Trump ‘very angry’ after Putin blames Ukraine for attack on presidential home

“The Russian side has clearly stated that such reckless terrorist acts will of course not remain unanswered and will be met with the most serious reaction,” Ushakov said. He added that Trump was “literally outraged” by this information.

“HE [Trump] Ushakov said that he could not even imagine such unreasonable actions. “This will undoubtedly affect the current administration’s approaches to working with Zelensky, for which the United States, as Donald Trump himself has said, thank God, did not give the Tomahawks.”

Putin has a residence in Roshchino, north of St Petersburg. While Ushakovs’ English statement implied that Putin’s house was hit, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that Russian air defenses prevented the attack by destroying all 91 long-range unmanned aerial vehicles.

Ushakov said that Russia would now revise its stance on issues that it had previously agreed upon in talks with the United States to end the war. “Americans should understand this,” he said.

Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, who publishes propaganda on behalf of the Kremlin, made another provocative statement, calling Zelensky a “stinking Kiev bastard” and accusing him of derailing peace efforts.

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“He wants war. At least now he will have to hide for the rest of his worthless life,” Medvedev said.

Zelensky vehemently denied that such an attack took place, saying it was completely fabricated and “typical Russian lies.”

“Ukraine does not take steps to undermine diplomacy. On the contrary, Russia always takes such steps,” he said. “This is one of the many differences between us. It is very important that the world no longer remains silent. We cannot allow Russia to undermine our work to achieve lasting peace.”

US analysts generally viewed the Kremlin’s claims as a ploy to disrupt progress made by Trump and Zelensky, who met at the US president’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida on Tuesday (AEDT).

The two men said they agreed to more than 90 percent of the proposed peace plan, which includes U.S. and European security guarantees for Ukraine, but there were still disagreements over Ukraine ceding territory to Russia, especially the Donbas region.

Trump and Putin spoke before and after the meeting in what emerged as a pattern of direct communication with the US president before the Kremlin’s meeting with Zelensky.

Pro-Ukrainian Republican congressman Don Bacon warned Trump not to believe Putin’s claims. “President Trump and his team should get the facts before taking the blame,” he said on X. “Putin is a well-known, bold liar.”

Meanwhile, Trump also warned that the United States could support another major attack on Iran if it continues to rebuild its ballistic missile or nuclear weapons programs.

After his meeting with Netanyahu, the US president suggested that Tehran may be working to revive its weapons programs following a major US attack in June.

“I’ve read that they’re producing weapons and other things, and if so, they’re probably using different sites, not the sites that we destroyed,” Trump told reporters during the press conference.

“We know exactly where they’re going, what they’re doing, and I hope they’re not doing it because we don’t want to waste fuel on the B-2,” he added, referring to the bomber used in the earlier attack.

Trump also discussed the fragile Gaza peace process with Netanyahu and said he wanted to move to the second phase of a ceasefire agreement reached between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas in October.

Israel and Hamas accuse each other of gross violations of the agreement and are unwilling to accept the much tougher steps envisaged for the next phase. Hamas, which refuses to disarm, is regaining control as Israeli troops remain entrenched in about half of the area. Israel stated that it would continue military operations if Hamas was not disarmed peacefully.

On Monday, Trump blamed Hamas for not disarmament more quickly, arguing that Israel had fulfilled its part of the agreement.

He warned that Hamas was inviting serious consequences. When asked what he would do if Hamas does not lay down its weapons, Trump said, “The price for this will be very heavy.”

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Trump also said the US “hit” an area in Venezuela where boats were loaded with drugs; This marks Washington’s first known ground operation in this country since the start of a pressure campaign against the government of President Nicolas Maduro.

“There was a big explosion in the dock area where they loaded drugs onto boats,” Trump said. “We hit all the boats, now we’re hitting the area… This is the practice area. That’s where they practiced, that’s no longer there.”

Asked whether the Central Intelligence Agency carried out the attack, Trump said: “I don’t want to say that. I know exactly who it is, but I don’t want to say who it is.”

Citing sources, CNN reported that the CIA launched a drone attack on a port facility off the coast of Venezuela earlier this month. According to CNN, the attack targeted a remote pier that the US believes is used by the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua to store drugs and transport them onto boats for later shipment. Trump has previously said he authorized the CIA to conduct covert operations in Venezuela.

The Venezuelan government did not comment on the incident described by Trump, and there was no independent report from Venezuela on the issue.

via Reuters

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