We’re closing our live coverage for now, thank you for reading along. I’ll leave you with my colleague Luke Harding’s report on Russia’s claim that it has deployed its latest nuclear-capable missile system in Belarus.
No White House comment after Zelenskyy brings up 'faked attack' on Putin's residence with Trump
Further to our earlier post, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that Kyiv was discussing with Washington a possible presence of US troops in Ukraine as part of security guarantees, and also raised the attack Russia alleges on Vladimir Putin’s residence, which Ukraine and its allies have said there is no evidence for.
Reuters reports that Zelenskyy told media in a WhatsApp chat that Kyiv was committed to continuing talks on how to end the war triggered by Russia’s 2022 full-scale invasion and he was ready to meet Putin in any format.
Zelenskyy said a US troop presence in Ukraine would be a major security boost for Kyiv.
Of course, we are discussing this with President Trump and with representatives of the coalition. We want this. We would like this. This would be a strong position of the security guarantees
The White House had no comment for Reuters on the issue of dispatching US troops to Ukraine under any peace settlement with Russia.
Zelenskyy also said he was willing to meet Putin despite the deep lack of mutual trust he underlined on Monday.
I told President Trump, European leaders I am ready for any format of meeting with Putin. I am not afraid of any format ... The main thing is for Russians not to be afraid.
Russia claimed yesterday that Kyiv had targeted a presidential residence in the Novgorod region with 91 long-range attack drones, all of which it said it had intercepted.
The Kremlin provided no physical evidence of the alleged incident, saying it would retaliate and review its negotiating stance but would not quit talks on a possible peace deal.
And as we’ve been reporting, in Paris, a source close to French president Emmanuel Macron said there was no substance to corroborate Moscow’s accusation of an attack on Putin’s residence.
Zelenskyy said earlier on Tuesday:
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.
According to Reuters, the White House declined further comment on the reported attack on Putin’s residence after Zelenskyy said he brought it up with Trump, who yesterday said he was informed of the matter by Putin and was angry about it.
Asked if there was evidence of such an attack, Trump said: “We’ll find out.”
Updated
