Trump claims progress toward peace, but Russia signals more war ahead

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Russia's apical diplomat said Monday, hours aft President Trump touted advancement toward a ceasefire to extremity the war successful Ukraine, that Moscow's negotiating presumption would alteration pursuing an alleged effort by Ukraine to onslaught 1 of President Vladimir Putin's far-flung residences.

Sergey Lavrov, a adjacent Putin confidant and Russia's longtime overseas minister, said the Kremlin had already decided connected retaliatory measures against Ukraine, which helium did not elucidate.

Lavrov accused Ukraine of launching dozens of drones to people Putin's residence successful the Novgorod region, hundreds of miles from Moscow and adjacent Russia's occidental borders with the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Lavrov said 91 Ukrainian drones were intercepted and determination were nary casualties and nary harm caused.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy rapidly issued a connection calling the Russian accusation "lies" and an effort to undermine the bid talks being spearheaded by the Trump administration.

U.S. President Trump - Ukrainian President Zelenskyy gathering successful Florida

President Trump met with Zelenskyy Sunday astatine the American leader's Mar-a-Lago edifice successful Florida, aft which Mr. Trump claimed again that Putin was committed to bid and that, "Russia wants to spot Ukraine succeed."

That remark drew sizeable attention, fixed that Putin and his aides person repeatedly dismissed Ukraine's close to adjacent exist arsenic an autarkic nation.

White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said successful a societal media post that Mr. Trump held different "positive telephone with President Putin concerning Ukraine" connected Monday, but she offered nary further item of the discussion, and it was unclear whether the presidents had spoken earlier oregon aft Moscow accused Kyiv of targeting Putin's residence.

Lavrov did not accidental however oregon erstwhile Russia would alteration its negotiating presumption successful the talks to extremity the war, astir 4 years since Putin ordered the full-scale penetration of Ukraine, which his authorities inactive refers to lone arsenic a peculiar subject operation. But Putin himself said earlier connected Monday, during a gathering with his subject commander, that "in the adjacent future, it is indispensable to proceed the offensive."

Russian President Putin chairs a gathering successful Moscow

Putin adjacent voiced optimism that Russian forces would beryllium capable to prehend power of each 4 regions of eastbound Ukraine that helium declared dominion implicit astir 7 months into the full-scale penetration — Donetsk and Luhansk successful the Donbas, on with Kherson and Zaporizhzhia.

Ukraine and its European partners person agelong warned that Putin's ongoing engagement with the Trump medication connected Ukraine is truly a play for time, arsenic his subject further expands its power implicit Ukrainian territory.

Zelenskyy said aft his Sunday talks with Mr. Trump that helium believed the U.S. and Ukraine had reached astir 90% statement connected a draught 20-point bid plan, but some men acknowledged determination were lingering issues. These see Russia's unflinching request that it beryllium fixed sovereignty implicit the full Donbas.

Ukraine, on with its European partners, has consistently rejected the thought of rewarding Russia's unilateral battle with territorial concessions, noting that it could acceptable a unsafe precedent unseen successful Europe since the landgrab by Adolf Hitler astatine the opening of what would go World War II.

Despite Putin having shown nary willingness to crook connected his request for an enlargement of Russia's territory, Mr. Trump claimed Sunday that Ukraine and Russia were "closer than ever before" to a bid settlement.

Zelenskyy said aft the gathering successful Mar-a-Lago that Putin's words indispensable lucifer his actions. Zelenskyy and Mr. Trump met conscionable a time after Russia launched different blistering attack connected Ukraine's superior metropolis of Kyiv.