The Kremlin on Tuesday said that the reported Ukrainian drone attack targeting the residence of Russian President Vladimir Putin would lead to a tougher Russian position in any potential peace negotiations
aimed at ending the Ukraine war.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia would not withdraw from the negotiation process despite the attack. “Russia is not withdrawing from the negotiation process. We will continue negotiations, primarily with the Americans,” Peskov was quoted as saying by RT News.
He alleged that the drone attack was directed not only against Putin but also against efforts by US President Donald Trump to broker peace talks. “This terrorist action is aimed at collapsing the negotiation process,” Peskov told reporters, adding that the diplomatic consequence would be a hardening of Russia’s negotiating stance.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Monday claimed that Ukraine had attempted to attack Putin’s residence in Novgorod region, warning that Moscow’s negotiating position would change as a result. Calling it an act of “state terrorism,” the Russian leader claimed that Ukraine launched 91 long-range drones at the presidential residence over December 28–29.
Lavrov described the alleged drone attack as an attempt to derail peace efforts and noted that the Russian military had selected targets for “retaliatory strikes.”
Meanwhile, Ukraine has categorically denied the Russian allegations.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called the report “a complete fabrication” and warned against the use of “dangerous statements to undermine all achievements of our shared diplomatic efforts with Trump’s team.”
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha also urged the international community to “condemn the provocative Russian statements aimed at derailing the constructive peace process” and stated that Ukraine only targets legitimate military installations within Russian territory.
Further, Peskov rejected Kyiv’s denial and criticised Western media outlets for echoing Ukraine’s position. “We see that Zelenskyy himself is trying to deny this, and many Western media, playing along with the Kyiv regime, are starting to spread the theme that this did not happen,” he said, calling such claims “completely insane.”
Peskov declined to say where Putin was at the time of the attack, saying that in light of recent events, such details should not be in the public domain.
When asked if Russia had physical evidence of the drone attack, he said air defences shot the drones down, but that the question of wreckage was for the defence ministry.
(With inputs from agencies)
