Trump says he was “very angry” over alleged drone attack on Putin residence

US President Donald Trump said he was angered by what Russian President Vladimir Putin told him in a December 29 call was a Ukrainian drone attack targeting one of Putin’s residences, though he acknowledged the claim might be false.

“This is not the right time. One thing to be offensive, because they’re offensive. It’s another thing to attack his house,” Trump said, adding he learned about it from the president and was “ very angry about it,” Caliber.Az reports via CNN. 

Trump said it was “possible” the allegation was untrue and that such an attack had not occurred, but added, “But President Putin told me this morning it did.”

The US president described his call with Putin as “productive,” while noting that significant issues remain to be resolved in efforts to broker a peace deal in Ukraine. His comments were his first public remarks since Russia’s foreign minister raised the allegation earlier in the day.

Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, claimed on December 29 that Ukraine had attempted to strike Putin’s residence in the Novgorod region, south of St Petersburg. He said Russian air defences shot down 91 incoming drones and warned that “such reckless actions will not go unanswered,” denouncing what he called “state terrorism.” Lavrov added that targets for retaliatory strikes against Ukraine had already been selected and said Moscow would review its negotiating position as a result.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy strongly denied the accusation, calling it a fabrication designed to undermine ongoing peace negotiations with the United States. He cautioned that Russia could use the allegation as a pretext for further strikes, potentially against Kyiv, and argued the timing—coming after what he described as productive talks with US officials on a peace framework—suggested an attempt to derail diplomatic momentum rather than reflect actual Ukrainian actions.

Earlier, Zelenskyy said the United States had offered “strong” security guarantees to Ukraine for 15 years, while acknowledging that the future of the eastern Donbas region remained unresolved following talks with Trump at the US president’s Mar-a-Lago residence.

By Sabina Mammadli