KYIV: Russia accused Ukraine on Monday of having fired dozens of drones at one of President Vladimir Putin&#39;s homes, an accusation that Ukraine called a &quot;lie&quot; aimed at undermining US-led efforts to end the war.&nbsp;Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who does not typically announce drone strikes, said Ukraine had fired &quot;91 long-range unmanned aerial vehicles&quot; at Putin&#39;s residence in the Novgorod region between late Sunday and early Monday, all of which were shot down.&nbsp;&quot;Given the complete degeneration of the criminal Kyiv regime, which has shifted to a policy of state terrorism, Russia&#39;s negotiating position will be reconsidered,&quot; Lavrov said, without elaborating.&nbsp;Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who met with US President Donald Trump on Sunday for talks on ending the war, called Russia&#39;s claim &quot;a complete fabrication&quot; designed to derail the peace process and suggested Moscow was preparing to intensify its bombardment of Ukraine.&nbsp;&quot;Russia is at it again, using dangerous statements to undermine all achievements of our shared diplomatic efforts with President Trump&#39;s team,&quot; the Ukrainian leader wrote on X.&nbsp;Russia&#39;s accusation comes at a pivotal moment in the peace process.&nbsp;Ukraine says it has agreed to 90 percent of a US-drafted peace plan -- including the issue of post-war security guarantees -- though the issue of territory in a post-war settlement remains unresolved.&nbsp;Russia, which has stayed silent about what parts of the US plan it has agreed to, said Monday it was still committed to the peace process but would &quot;revise&quot; its position in light of the alleged drone attack.&nbsp;Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, describing it as a &quot;special military operation&quot; to demilitarise the country and prevent the expansion of NATO.&nbsp;Kyiv and its European allies say the war, the largest and deadliest on European soil since World War II, is an unprovoked and illegal land grab that has resulted in a tidal wave of violence and destruction.&nbsp;Territory main sticking pointTrump has held talks with both sides in recent days, including a phone call with Putin on Monday that the White House described as &quot;positive&quot;.&nbsp;During talks with Zelensky on Sunday, Trump offered Kyiv long-sought-after security guarantees for a period of 15 years, according to Kyiv.&nbsp;But the issue of territory and the future of the Moscow-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine remain unresolved, Zelensky said.&nbsp;Zelensky said Monday that Kyiv was ready for &quot;any&quot; format of meetings including with Putin if necessary but said he still did not think the Kremlin chief wanted peace.&nbsp;The current plan, revised after weeks of intense US-Ukrainian negotiations, would stop the war at the current frontlines in the eastern Donbas region and establish a demilitarized area.&nbsp;But the Kremlin has shown no sign of compromise.&nbsp;Putin said Monday that Russia was pressing ahead with its plan to capture four Ukrainian regions it announced the annexation of in 2022 and that his troops were &quot;confidently advancing&quot;.&nbsp;Moscow on Monday said it took another village, Dibrova, in Ukraine&#39;s eastern Donetsk region.

Europe

Russia accused Ukraine of a massive drone attack on Putin’s residence, which Kyiv denied as a fabrication, warning Moscow is trying to derail US-led peace efforts as territorial disputes and military fighting continue despite ongoing negotiations.

Russia says Ukraine attacked Putin's home, Kyiv calls this 'lie'

ISLAMABAD: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will sit down Sunday with Donald Trump to seek the US president&rsquo;s stamp of approval for a new proposal to end the nearly four-year conflict with Russia. The 20-point plan, which emerged from weeks of intense US-Ukraine negotiations, lacks Moscow&#39;s approval, and the face-to-face in Florida comes in the wake of a massive Russian missile and drone attack on Kyiv. The meeting, hosted by Trump at his opulent Mar-a-Lago residence, will be the pair&#39;s first in-person encounter since October, when the US president refused to grant Zelensky&#39;s request for long-range Tomahawk missiles. During a stopover in Canada on Saturday, Zelensky said he hoped the talks would be &quot;very constructive&quot; and said Russian leader Vladimir Putin had shown his hand with the latest assault on the Ukrainian capital. &quot;This attack is again, Russia&#39;s answer on our peace efforts. And this really showed that Putin doesn&#39;t want peace,&quot; he said. Europeans vow supportWhile in Canada, Zelensky held a conference call with European leaders who, according to German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, pledged their full support for his peace efforts. Russia has accused Ukraine and its European backers of trying to &quot;torpedo&quot; a previous US-brokered plan to stop the fighting. EU chiefs Ursula von der Leyen and Antonio Costa, who participated in the conference call, said the European Union&#39;s backing for Ukraine would never falter and vowed to maintain pressure on the Kremlin to come to terms. Trump has so far been non-committal on the new peace proposal. Zelensky &quot;doesn&#39;t have anything until I approve it,&quot; the president said in an interview with Politico on Friday. &quot;So we&#39;ll see what he&#39;s got.&quot; The talks will address a plan that would stop the war along its current front lines and could require Ukraine to pull back troops from the east, allowing the creation of demilitarized buffer zones. As such, it contains Kyiv&#39;s most explicit acknowledgement yet of possible territorial concessions. But is does not envisage Ukraine withdrawing from the 20 percent of the eastern Donetsk region that it still controls -- Russia&#39;s main territorial demand. Trump has made ending the Ukraine and Gaza wars the centerpiece of his self-proclaimed second term as a &quot;president of peace.&quot; But the Ukraine war has, by his own admission, proved far harder than he expected, and the president has repeatedly voiced his frustration with both sides for failing to secure a truce. Security guaranteesIn Canada, Zelensky told reporters that security guarantees would be a key focus of the talks in Florida. &quot;Security guarantees must be simultaneous with the end of the war, because we must be confident that Russia will not start aggression again,&quot; he stressed. &quot;We need strong security guarantees. We will discuss this and we will discuss the terms.&quot; Ukraine insists it needs more European and US support in terms of funding and weaponry -- especially drones. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, who met with Zelensky during his stopover on Saturday, announced CAN$2.5 billion (US$1.82 billion) in fresh economic assistance to help Ukraine rebuild once the war ends. The latest Russian attack, which saw 500 drones and 40 missiles pummel the Ukrainian capital and its infrastructure, knocked out power and heating to hundreds of thousands of Kyiv region residents during freezing temperatures.

This files combination of pictures created on February 25, 2025 shows US President Donald Trump (L) on February 24, 2025, and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky (R) on February 23, 2025.

Americas

The meeting, hosted by Trump at his opulent Mar-a-Lago residence, will be the pair's first in-person encounter since October, when the US president refused to grant Zelensky's request for long-range Tomahawk missiles.

Articles tagged with "ukraine"

Russia says Ukraine attacked Putin's home, Kyiv calls this 'lie'

Zelensky looks to close out Ukraine peace deal at Trump meet