The CIA, according to US officials, assessed that Ukraine did not attack the residence used by Kremlin head Vladimir Putin during a recent drone attack in the north of his country, refuting a claim made by the Russian leader to US President Donald Trump during a phone call on Monday. CIA Director John Ratcliffe "briefed Trump on that assessment on Wednesday," officials said, according to CNN, writes UNN.
Details
Russia publicly made accusations that Ukraine allegedly tried to strike the residence on Monday, and Trump told reporters that Putin told him about it by phone. He admitted that it was "possible" that the accusation was false and that no such attack occurred, then added: "But President Putin told me this morning that it did."
Sources said Ratcliffe later informed Trump that the CIA did not believe the words were true
And on Wednesday, the publication writes, "Trump appeared to take a more skeptical stance," posting a link to a New York Post editorial on Truth Social with the headline: "Putin ‘attack’ bluster shows Russia is the one standing in the way of peace."
"... here's the catch: the drone strike probably never happened. (Ukrainian President Volodymyr) Zelensky vehemently denied it. (Kremlin spokesman Dmitry) Peskov said the Russians could not provide any evidence and urged the press to 'take the Kremlin's word for it.' No, we won't," the Post editorial board wrote.
Putin's claim of an attack — and the subsequent US assessment that it was false, first reported by the Wall Street Journal — came amid intense negotiations led by Trump and his envoys to end Russia's war against Ukraine.
Putin made the claim a day after Trump met with Zelensky in Mar-a-Lago and expressed optimism about progress toward peace in the war.
Some European officials said the claim was an attempt by Putin to derail peace efforts while avoiding Trump's accusations, the publication writes. Others also questioned Russia's statement. European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on Wednesday that it was "a deliberate distraction."
The Russian Ministry of Defense, the publication writes, "stated on Wednesday that 91 drones were launched from northern Ukraine allegedly against Putin's residence near Valdai in the Novgorod region of northwestern Russia." "More than half were intercepted several hundred kilometers away, the ministry said, without specifying where it learned that they were aimed at Valdai," the publication indicates. According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, the rest were intercepted over Novgorod between 3:00 and 8:30 a.m. local time on Monday. The Russian Ministry of Defense published a map allegedly showing the path of the drones and their crash sites.