Jan. 5 (UPI) — U.S. President Donald Trump said U.S. intelligence had determined that Kremlin claims Ukraine attempted to attack Russian President Vladimir Putin’s state residence with drones last week were false.
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday, Trump said that while the investigation found evidence of something unrelated nearby they did not find that Putin’s residence in Novgorod province, some 300 miles northwest of Moscow, was targeted.
“I don’t believe that strike happened, now that we’ve able to check,” said Trump, a week after Moscow accused Kyiv of targeting the residence with more than 90 drones and threatened retaliation and consequences for talks aimed at ending the war with Ukraine.
“There is something that happened fairly nearby but had nothing to do with this… nobody knew at that moment. I mean, that was the first I heard about it. He said that his house was attacked,” Trump said.
Last week, Trump said he was “very angry” and concerned when he heard about the attack directly from Putin, saying it was not the right time for offense, to attack Putin’s house, during such a delicate period, referring to ongoing U.S.-peace-brokering efforts.
However, he acknowledged at the time that the alleged attack may never have taken place and vowed his intelligence officials would get to the truth.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had issued an immediate and categorical denial, calling it a “complete fabrication” and “typical Russian lies.”
Coming immediately after Dec. 28 U.S.-Ukrainian talks at Mar-a-Lago on a peace framework that both sides hailed as making “good progress,” Zelensky and European officials said the attack claim was calculated to justify more Russian strikes on Ukraine and to try derail the peace process.
As far back as New Year’s Eve, Trump reposted an editorial in the New York Post casting doubt on the Kremlin’s claims and arguing Putin’s “‘attack’ bluster” proved Moscow was the party obstructing the path to peace.
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