Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday condemned reports regarding the targeting of the residence of Russian President Vladimir Putin, calling it a “heinous act”. In a post on X, the prime minister said,“Pakistan condemns the reported targeting of the residence of His Excellency Vladimir Putin, president of the Russian Federation.” He said that such a “heinous act constitutes a grave threat to peace, security and stability, particularly at a time when efforts aimed at peace are underway”. “We reiterate our firm rejection of all forms of violence and acts intended to undermine security and threaten peace,” he said. While the premier did not mention any names, Russian has accused Ukraine of trying to attack Putin’s residence and vowed retaliation, a claim Kyiv dismissed as baseless and aimed at derailing arduous peace talks. The angry exchanges between the warring neighbours on Monday, including a statement by Russia that it was reviewing its stance in negotiations in response to the attack, dealt a new blow to prospects for peace in Ukraine. US President Donald Trump said Putin had told him about the alleged attack in a phone call on Monday morning, which had angered him. Still, Trump repeated his belief that a peace deal may be near. “It’s one thing to be offensive,” Trump told reporters. “It’s another thing to attack his house. It’s not the right time to do any of that. And I learned about it from President Putin today. I was very angry about it.” On Sunday, Trump met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Florida and the US president said they were “getting a lot closer, maybe very close” to an agreement to end the war, although “thorny” territorial issues remained. On Monday, Putin struck a defiant tone, telling his army to press on with a campaign to take full control of Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region. The Kremlin repeated demands for Kyiv to pull its forces out of the last part of the Donbas area that they still hold in eastern Ukraine. Putin told Trump in Monday’s phone call that Russia, which invaded Ukraine in February 2022 , was reviewing its stance following the reported drone attack, an aide said. Zelenskiy dismissed Russia’s allegation as “a complete fabrication” and the Kremlin’s own refusal to take necessary steps to end the war. After the call with Putin, Trump told reporters outside his home in Palm Beach, Florida, that he had no further information about the alleged attack. “I don’t like it, it’s not good,” Trump said. Asked if U.S. intelligence agencies had evidence of such an attack, Trump said: “We’ll find out.” Russia signals more hardline approach to ending war Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Ukraine had tried to attack Putin’s residence in the Novgorod region west of Moscow on December 28-29 with 91 long-range drones which were all destroyed by Russian air defences. No one was injured and there was no damage, he said in comments reported by Russian media. “Such reckless actions will not go unanswered,” Lavrov said in a statement, describing the attack as “state terrorism” and adding that targets had already been selected for retaliatory strikes by Russia’s armed forces. Reuters could not independently verify Lavrov’s comments. Neither Lavrov nor any other Russian officials offered any evidence for the attack assertions. It was not clear where Putin was at the time. Lavrov said the attack took place during negotiations about a possible peace deal, and said Russia would review its negotiating stance but not quit the negotiations. Denying Ukraine had planned such an attack, Zelenskiy accused Russia of preparing the ground to strike government buildings in Kyiv. “It is clear that we had a meeting with Trump yesterday, and it is clear that for the Russians, if there is no scandal between us and America, and we are making progress for them it is a failure, because they do not want to end this war,” Zelenskiy told reporters via WhatsApp. He added: “I am sure they are simply preparing the ground for strikes, probably on the capital, probably on government buildings.”