Russia on Monday accused Ukraine of trying to attack President Vladimir Putin’s residence in northern Russia, which President Trump said he was “very angry” about, even as Kyiv has denied it happened.
The Kremlin’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Moscow’s negotiating position to end its war in Ukraine was under review after it claimed Kyiv tried to attack the presidential residence in the Novgorod region overnight with 91 long-range drones. Lavrov said all drones were destroyed by Russian air defenses, with no injuries or damage.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, meanwhile, said Russia’s claims were “a complete fabrication intended to justify additional attacks against Ukraine” and undermine peace talks, according to a post to the social platform X.
But Trump later on Monday appeared to take Russia’s side.
“I don’t like it, it’s not good. I heard about it this morning. You know who told me about it? President Putin told me about it. Early in the morning he said he was attacked. That’s no good, it’s no good,” Trump told reporters at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Fla., of the claimed strike.
“It’s a delicate period of time. This is not the right time,” Trump added, likely referring to ongoing peace negotiations between Russia and Ukraine. “It’s one thing to be offensive, because [Russia is] offensive, it’s another thing to attack [Putin’s] house. It’s not the right time to do any of that. … I was very angry about it.”
Asked if there’s evidence of the attack, Trump replied: “Well, we’ll find out. You’re saying maybe the attack didn’t take place? That’s possible, I guess, but President Putin told me this morning.”
Asked if there’s evidence of the attack, Trump replied: “Well, we’ll find out. You’re saying maybe the attack didn’t take place? That’s possible, I guess, but President Putin told me this morning.”
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed Trump’s call with Putin, saying in a post on X that the president had “concluded a positive call with President Putin concerning Ukraine.”
Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) later criticized Trump for appearing to side with Russia, accusing Putin of frequently lying.
“President Trump and his team should get the facts first before assuming blame. Putin is a well known boldface liar,” Bacon wrote on X.
Russia has already promised to retaliate against Ukraine and said targets had already been selected for such strikes.
“Such reckless actions will not go unanswered. The targets for retaliatory strikes and the timing of their implementation by the Russian armed forces have been determined,” Lavrov said.
Zelensky in his post warned that Russia would use the alleged attack to justify strikes against Ukraine, including government buildings in Kyiv.
“Russia is at it again, using dangerous statements to undermine all achievements of our shared diplomatic efforts with President Trump’s team. We keep working together to bring peace closer,” he wrote.
Of course, because Chinese and Russian media are state-controlled and even filter a lot of outside internet sites
So you’re saying that popular sentiment for leaders is driven by media and not, say, lived experiences?
I ask, regarding China, because…
Because there are about 100 million people in China that are over the age of 70, which means that when they grew up they were in a rice farming family living in the equivalent of $1/month and now they’re driving electric cars.
Because the home ownership rate in China is about 90%, 25 points higher than in the US.
Because China’s criminal justice has a recidivism rates 80% lower than the US’s, as well as an incarceration rate that’s around 75% lower than the US’s. The US also has twice as many people on parole as it does in prison, and China’s parole system is something tiny like 3% of their prison population.
Because China hasn’t launched engaged in military conflicts in 35 years.
I would think all of these things matter more than what people see on the media. In fact, given the proliferation of VPN and the relative level of openness China uses to speak about the fact that it wields control over media, I would think that such a thing would actually make people less happy. Wouldn’t it make you less happy to know that your government sees no problem in media manipulation and censorship?
Chinese people in the US also have lower crime rates. If we had a country made up of mostly Chinese immigrants, like a Singapore or Taiwan, we’d have the crime rate of Singapore or Taiwan
Also most people have their houses financed by their parents. Apartments in Beijing cost well north of a million USD in the central areas (there are cheaper places in Beijing, but they are like one to two hours away). You’re not buying it on your $3000-$4000 monthly salary.
Personally, living in China I have huge problems with connectivity to websites outside of China. Even those that don’t require a VPN are just dogshit slow and work faster with a good VPN. But VPNs work sporadically and randomly something will just not load for a while.
That, combined with bad air quality, traffic jams, bad walkability, smokers smoking everywhere (including bathrooms and restaurants) makes my quality of life lower here than in the US