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A top Russian official issued personal public threats against Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy after the Kremlin claimed Ukraine attacked one of Russian President Vladimir Putin's official residences with more than 90 drones.
Former Russian president and prime minister Dmitry Medvedev, who now serves as the country's security council, shared multiple social media posts accusing Zelenskyy of "trying to derail the settlement of the conflict," referencing ongoing peace talks sponsored by the United States.
"He wants war. Well, now at least he'll have to stay in hiding for the rest of his worthless life," Medvedev wrote.
Medvedev also shared a separate post on Telegram appearing to suggest that Zelenskyy should be "exhibited" in St. Petersburg after his "imminent demise." Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavov publicly claimed that Ukraine attacked one of Putin's official residences with more than 90 drones, all of which were shot down, on Monday (December 29) and said the Kremlin would now review its negotiation position to potentially end its nearly four-year invasion of Ukraine.
Zelenskyy denied the alleged attacks as a "complete fabrication" made as a justification for retaliation strikes following his meeting with President Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago on Sunday (December 28).
"Russia is at it again, using dangerous statements to undermine all achievements of our shared diplomatic efforts with President Trump's team," Zelenskyy wrote on his X account. "We keep working together to bring peace closer. This alleged "residence strike" story is a complete fabrication intended to justify additional attacks against Ukraine, including Kyiv, as well as Russia’s own refusal to take necessary steps to end the war. Typical Russian lies. Furthermore, the Russians have already targeted Kyiv in the past, including the Cabinet of Ministers building. Ukraine does not take steps that can undermine diplomacy. To the contrary, Russia always takes such steps. This is one of many differences between us. It is critical that the world doesn’t stay silent now. We cannot allow Russia to undermine the work on achieving a lasting peace."
Zelenskyy had previously revealed that the United States was offering a 15-year security guarantee as part of a plan to end Russia's yearslong invasion following his meeting with Trump on Sunday and prior to reports of alleged strikes targeting Putin's residence on Monday. The Ukrainian president answered questions on WhatsApp regarding his meeting at Trump's resort and said he told the president that he'd like for the guarantee to be extended to up to 50 years.
“I raised this issue with the president. I told him that our war is still going on, and it has been almost 15 years,” Zelensky said. “Therefore, we would really like the guarantees to be longer. I told him that we would very much like to consider the possibility of 30, 40, 50 years. And that would then be a historic decision by President Trump.”
Zelenskyy claimed that Trump said he would "think about" the request during their meeting.
“I believe that the presence of international troops is a real security guarantee, it is a strengthening of the security guarantees that our partners are already offering us,” he added.
Trump claimed "we have the makings of a deal" following his meeting with Zelenskyy on Sunday, but warned "millions" more people will be killed in the ongoing invasion by Russia if one isn't reached soon.