The Russian Government threatens to put an end to it after accusing kyiv of having committed an alleged attack on a secondary residence of Vladimir Putin after the leaders of the United States and Ukraine, Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky, met this Sunday. “Russia’s negotiating position will be reviewed given kyiv’s definitive transition towards a policy of state terrorism,” said Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
According to Moscow’s version, Russia shot down 91 drones that Ukraine allegedly launched at the Russian leader’s residence in the Novgorod region. “The attack on the Russian presidential residence will not go unanswered,” warned Lavrov, who assures that the Russian bombing of Ukraine will not be long in coming.
“The objectives of the retaliatory actions and the moment of their application by the Russian armed forces have been determined,” added Putin’s head of diplomacy a day after on the eve of the meeting of Zelensky and Trump at the businessman’s complex in Mar-a-Lago.
The Russian threat comes after a new failed attempt by Donald Trump to advance a possible peace deal. Putin has not yet commented on his conversation with the American president, but the Russian authorities have emphasized that Moscow is based on a 27-point program that takes as reference what was discussed at the summit of leaders in Alaska in August. According to Russian diplomacy, the 20-point plan agreed upon between kyiv and Washington is “unacceptable.”
Putin assured this Monday that the Russian military operation will continue as planned “and until its objectives are met,” according to the Intefax agency.
Zelensky denies attack
Zelensky has issued a statement through his social networks in which he described the accusation of the attack on Putin’s residence as “completely false”: “This is an excuse to continue the attacks against Ukraine, in particular against kyiv, and also to refuse to take the necessary decisions to end the war.”
The Ukrainian president believes that after Lavrov’s accusations, Russia could prepare a major attack against the capital and, more specifically, against seats of political power.
Zelensky reiterated to the Ukrainian media on Sunday night, after his meeting with Trump, that the key to bringing peace to his country is the guarantees of defense protection granted by its European and North American allies.
Zelensky revealed that the White House ensures adequate measures, equivalent to if Ukraine were part of NATO, but only for a period of 15 extendable years. The Ukrainian president explained that he had asked Trump to extend the period to at least 30 years and, ideally, to 50 years. “I told President Trump that the war has been going on for almost 15 years,” Zelensky commented, referring to the war in Donbas, which broke out in 2014, with pro-Russian separatists, “that is why security guarantees need to be longer.”
The Ukrainian president believes that the war will not formally end until his country has these security measures. Martial law, despite the signing of a hypothetical peace agreement, would remain in force until Ukraine is no longer under the Western defense umbrella, Zelensky stressed.
