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The Kremlin said on Tuesday it would toughen its stance in talks to end the war in Ukraine after accusing Kiev of attacking the Russian presidential residence – an accusation Kiev said was baseless and aimed at prolonging the conflict.
Kiev said Russia’s accusations were “lies” aimed at justifying new attacks on Ukraine, and its foreign minister said on Tuesday that Russia had not provided any evidence “because there is none”.
Russia said on Monday that Kiev attacked the presidential residence in the Novgorod region with 91 long-range drones. They said that they would retaliate and reconsider their negotiating position, but that they would not give up negotiations on a possible peace agreement.
“This terrorist action is aimed at collapsing the negotiation process,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Tuesday. “The diplomatic consequence will be a tightening of the negotiating position of the Russian Federation.”
He said the military knew when and how to respond.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy denies Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov’s claims that Ukraine tried to attack President Vladimir Putin’s residence in northern Russia.
A tougher negotiating stance would complicate efforts led by US President Donald Trump to end Europe’s deadliest war since World War II.
Russia, which invaded Ukraine in February 2022, controls just under a fifth of its neighbor’s territory and says its troops are advancing.
Ukraine says there was no attack
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said on Tuesday that Russia had not provided any convincing evidence for its accusations.
“And it won’t. Because there is no such thing. No such attack happened,” said Sybiha on X.
He said Kiev was disappointed by statements from the United Arab Emirates, India and Pakistan, expressing concern over what he said was an attack that never happened.
“Russia has a long record of making false claims – that’s their signature tactic,” Sybiha said.
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When asked by reporters if Russia has physical evidence of a drone attack, Peskov said that the air defenses shot down the drones, but that the issue of the wreckage is for the Ministry of Defense.
Russia has not provided any evidence other than a Defense Ministry statement saying 91 drones were shot down as they headed toward the residence, located about 360 kilometers north of Moscow.
The Defense Ministry said 49 of them were shot down over the Bryansk region, which is 450 kilometers from Valdai; one over the Smolensk region; and 41 over the densely wooded area of Novgorod.
The Ministry of Defense did not mention any attack on the residence in earlier reports on the military action. Novgorod Governor Alexander Dronov said air defenses and fighter jets were shooting down Ukrainian drones.
Peskov said that many Western media are raising Kiev’s denial.
“We see that (Vladimir) Zelenskyy himself is trying to deny it, and many Western media, praising the Kiev regime, are starting to spread the topic that this did not happen,” Peskov said. “That is a completely insane claim.”
Peskov declined to say where Russian President Vladimir Putin was at the time of the attack, saying that in light of recent events such details should not be made public.
