PRESIDENT Trump has branded Putin’s claim that Zelensky tried to kill him as a lie.
It comes as the Russian tyrant launched more deadly strikes in Ukraine, killing two civilians – the first reported casualties of the bloody conflict this year.
The savage overnight strikes hit a hospital in Kyiv, just days after Putin doubled down on his claim that Ukraine’s leader launched a drone attack on his palace with the goal of assassinating him.
Mad Vlad and his cronies produced “proof” of the attempted attack to an American attache in the form of a drone controlling mechanism.
Apparently once decrypted, the device “confirms without question” the intended target was Putin’s £100million luxury Lake Valdai mansion.
Ukrainian officials have laughed off the evidence, and it now appears Trump shares similar sentiments.
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Speaking to press on Air Force One, Trump all but called Putin a liar.
“I don’t believe that strike happened,” Don told reporters.
“We don’t believe that happened, now that we’ve been able to check.”
The comments are a big flip from Trump’s first response to the news, initially appearing to take the Kremlin’s claims at face value.
“I learned about it from President Putin today,” he said last Monday.
“I was very angry about it.”
The Don described it as a “delicate period of time”, saying: “This is not the right time”.
The deaths of two Ukrainians in the overnight strikes comes after Russia’s aging tyrant gave a patriotic-charged address ordering his army to snatch more territory in 2026despite America and Ukraine making “terrific” progress on a peace deal.
Before the New Year, Zelensky met Trump at his Mar-a-Lago home where the pair discussed the latest peace developments.
Trump saluted the bravery of Ukraine’s leader and his people as he called the talks “terrific” and said he had “made a lot of progress” towards a deal.
He said: “I think we’re doing very well. We could be very close. There are one or two very thorny issues, very tough issues, but I think we’re doing very well.
“I really believe we’re probably… closer than, by far, closer than ever before with both parties. In a few weeks, we will know one way or the other.”
Zelensky said he hopes the meeting will “bring peace as quick as possible”.
Before the meeting, Trump and Putin even had a phone call which the president described on Truth Social as “very good and productive”.
Russia refused to say if it believes peace can be achieved quickly, instead saying a temporary ceasefire – an idea being pushed by Europe – will never be accepted.
They want a complete end to the conflict but only on terms which benefit Putin’s greedy thirst for territorial gains.
The Ukrainian leader declared peace is “90 per cent ready” and urged leaders around the world to strong-arm Russia into accepting a deal.
He warned that pulling Ukrainian forces out of the eastern Donbas – the region highly coveted by Putin and his cronies – would mean “everything will be over”.
Russia is demanding full control of Donbas as part of any deal.
Moscow already occupies about 75 per cent of Donetsk and almost all of neighbouring Luhansk, together known as Donbas.
This fresh tactic to secure as much land as possible off the Ukrainians appears to come as revenge for a Russian claim that Ukraine deliberately targeted a Putin palace AT Valdai in Novgorod Region.
Experts seized on a map shown in the footage which appeared to reveal that 49 drones were blasted out of the sky over Russia’s Bryansk region.
Only one is seen being taken down hundreds of miles south of Valdai.
Moscow failed to explain how it knew the swarm of drones were on a direct course for its dictator’s palace.
The graphic instead hinted that the remaining 41 drones were intercepted over the Novgorod region, where the residence is actually based.
The Kremlin was also mocked on Monday after it emerged that Russia’s own defence ministry had previously admitted to shooting down just 18 drones over Novgorod on Sunday — a figure that sits awkwardly with its later dramatic claims.
Local residents close to the sprawling palace also failed to report any explosions from air-defence activity.
And online communities in the 15,000-population town failed to mention anything untoward.
The palace is surrounded by more than 20 modern air defence systems – which appeared to remain silent.
But Putin cheerleaders led by former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev issued direct threats to Zelensky.
Medvedev raged on X: “The stinking Kyiv bastard is trying to derail the settlement of the conflict.
“He wants war. Well, now at least he’ll have to stay in hiding for the rest of his worthless life.
“I will not write here about his violent death, although right now the Grim Reaper is breathing down the bastard’s neck.
“I wish for something else — for scientific purposes.
“It is very important that in the future, after his imminent demise, the green homunculus’s body, preserved in alcohol, be displayed in the Kunstkamera science museum in St. Petersburg, where Russian tsars collected freaks for the amusement of their descendants.”