The US NATO ambassador doubts that Ukraine attacked Putin’s residence in Russia – National
The American ambassador to NATO, Matthew Whitaker, on Tuesday questioned Russia’s allegations that Ukraine attacked President Vladimir Putin’s house, saying he wants to see the American intelligence service about this incident.
“It’s unclear if it actually happened,” Whitaker told Fox Business’ “Varney & Co.” in a discussion about the alleged incident that Ukraine has denied.
“It seems to me that it is undesirable to be so close to a peace agreement, Ukraine really wants to make a peace agreement, and then do something that can be considered reckless or unhelpful,” he said.
Russia said on Monday that Ukraine attacked the presidential residence in the Novgorod region with 91 long-range attack aircraft. It said it will retaliate and its negotiating position will be strengthened in the negotiations.
Ukraine has called Russia’s allegations “false” aimed at justifying further attacks on Ukraine, and its foreign minister said on Tuesday that Russia had not provided evidence “because there is none”.
US President Donald Trump said on Monday that Putin told him on the phone that Ukraine had tried to attack the settlement. Trump said he was “very angry” about it. Asked if there was evidence of such an attack, Trump said, “We’ll find out.”
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The White House has refused to comment on the incident, while US intelligence officials remain tight-lipped about the incident. The CIA declined to comment.
“We’re going to get to the bottom of the intelligence. And to me, the most important thing is what the United States and our intelligence partners say about whether or not this attack happened,” Whitaker said.
After a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Florida on Sunday, Trump said he and Zelenskyy were “probably very close” to an agreement to end the war even as issues of disputed territory continued.
Zelenskyy said earlier on Tuesday: “This ‘occupational strike’ story is a complete hoax aimed at justifying further attacks on Ukraine, including Kyiv, and Russia’s own refusal to take the necessary steps to end the war. It’s a typical Russian lie.”
Russia, which invaded Ukraine in February 2022, controls just under a fifth of its neighbor’s territory and says its troops are on the move.
