Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday expressed concern over reports about the alleged targeting of a residence of Russian President Vladimir Putin and urged all concerned to avoid actions that could derail the efforts to end the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
Hours earlier, President Donald Trump, who on Sunday had a meeting with Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida over the 20-point peace plan to end the war, had said he was “very angry” about the “attack”.
Modi wrote on X: “Deeply concerned by reports of the targeting of the residence of the President of the Russian Federation. Ongoing diplomatic efforts offer the most viable path towards ending hostilities and achieving peace. We urge all concerned to remain focused on these efforts and to avoid any actions that could undermine them.”
Late on Monday night (Indian time), Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov was quoted as saying that Kiev had launched an attack targeting Putin’s state residence in the Novgorod region on December 29 using 91 drones. “All drones were destroyed. Lavrov noted that no casualties or damage from the drone debris had been reported,” the Russian news agency Tass reported.
On Tuesday afternoon (Indian time), Tass quoted the presidential spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, as saying: “Regarding the President’s whereabouts, under current circumstances, this topic is not subject to any public discussion.”
Zelesnky has dismissed Russia’s allegations as “lies”.
In a post on X, he said: “This alleged ‘residence strike’ story is a complete fabrication intended to justify additional attacks against Ukraine, including Kyiv, as well as Russia’s own refusal to take necessary steps to end the war. Typical Russian lies…”
Russia’s allegation against Kyiv came close on the heels of Zelensky’s meeting with Trump at Mar-a-Lago.
Trump told reporters that he had a telephone conversation with Putin during which the Russian President told him about the “attack” targeting one of his houses.
“It’s one thing to be offensive because they’re offensive. It’s another thing to attack his house. It’s not the right time to do any of that…. And I learned about it from President Putin today. I was very angry about it,” Trump said.