Ongoing peace talks between Russia and Ukraine are in jeopardy following allegations of drone attacks on President Vladimir Putin’s residence.
The allegations came into the limelight after Russian authorities accused Ukraine of launching 91 drone attacks on Putin’s residence in the Novgorod region.
The alleged incident, which Moscow has labeled “state terrorism,” comes at a critical juncture in U.S.-led negotiations, threatening to derail a “20-point peace plan” that officials recently claimed was 95% finalized.
According to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Ukrainian forces deployed 91 long-range drones late Sunday night and early Monday morning.
The targets were reportedly centered on the Valdai presidential residence, a heavily fortified estate in northwestern Russia.
Lavrov stated that all 91 drones were successfully intercepted by air defenses, reporting no casualties or structural damage.
He also announced that targets for “retaliatory strikes” have already been selected.
“Given the final degeneration of the criminal Kyiv regime, which has switched to a policy of state terrorism, Russia’s negotiating position will be revised,” he said.
But he added that Russia does not intend to exit the negotiating process with the US, Russian news agency Tass reported.
However, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy immediately dismissed the reports of orchestrating drone attacks on Putin’s residence as a “complete fabrication” and a “lie.”
Zelenskyy also claimed that Moscow is creating a pretext to justify its own upcoming strikes on Ukrainian government buildings.
He said that Russia had previously targeted government buildings in Kyiv.
Zelensky said: “Russia is at it again, using dangerous statements to undermine all achievements of our shared diplomatic efforts with President Trump’s team. We keep working together to bring peace closer.
“This alleged “residence strike” story is a complete fabrication intended to justify additional attacks against Ukraine, including Kyiv, as well as Russia’s own refusal to take necessary steps to end the war. Typical Russian lies. Furthermore, the Russians have already targeted Kyiv in the past, including the Cabinet of Ministers building.
“Ukraine does not take steps that can undermine diplomacy. To the contrary, Russia always takes such steps. This is one of many differences between us.
“It is critical that the world doesn’t stay silent now. We cannot allow Russia to undermine the work on achieving a lasting peace.”
The claim by Moscow comes after talks between the US and Ukraine in Florida on Sunday, where Presidents Trump and Zelensky discussed a revised peace plan to end the war.
Zelensky said the U.S had offered Ukraine security guarantees for 15 years, and Trump said an agreement on this point was “close to 95%” done.
Ukraine’s leader described territorial issues and the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant as the last unresolved matters, and there was little sign of progress on the future of Ukraine’s contested Donbas region – which Russia wants to seize in full.
Moscow currently controls about 75% of the Donetsk region, and some 99% of the neighbouring Luhansk. The two regions are known collectively as Donbas.
Russia has previously rejected key parts of the plan under discussion.
The White House said on Monday that President Trump had “concluded a positive call” with Putin, following the US-Ukraine talks.
Yuri Ushakov, a Kremlin foreign policy aide, told reporters on Monday that during the call, Putin had pointed out the alleged attack on his residence happened “almost straight after what the US had considered to be a successful round of talks”.
Ushahov said: “The U.S president was shocked by this information, he was angry and said he couldn’t believe such mad actions. It was stated that this will no doubt affect the U.S approach to working with Zelensky”.
Ushakov added that Putin had stated that the “reckless terrorist action” would be met with “the strongest response”.
