Moscow: Russia on Monday accused Kyiv of firing drones at Vladimir Putin's residence between Moscow and Saint Petersburg, announcing it would "revise" its negotiating position on ending the Ukraine war after the "terrorist attack".

In a statement, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Ukraine fired 91 drones at Putin's "official residence" in the Novgorod region Sunday night into Monday, adding that all of them were destroyed by air defences.

However, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy dismissed the claims, saying, “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.”

He accused Russia of using such stories to justify further attacks on Ukraine and to undermine ongoing diplomatic efforts with the U.S., emphasizing that Ukraine does not take steps that jeopardize negotiations, while Russia repeatedly does. Zelenskyy urged the international community not to remain silent and stressed the importance of protecting the work toward a lasting peace.

Meanwhile, Lavrov announced Russia had chosen targets in Ukraine for "retaliation strikes" and that Moscow's "negotiating position will be revised.”

Earlier, US President Donald Trump hosted Zelenskyy at his Florida resort on Sunday and insisted that Ukraine and Russia are “closer than ever before” to a peace settlement.

Negotiators are still searching for a breakthrough on key issues, however, including whose forces withdraw from where in Ukraine and the fate of Ukraine's Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, one of the 10 biggest in the world. Trump noted that the monthslong U.S.-led negotiations could still collapse.

“Without security guarantees, realistically, this war will not end,” Zelenskyy told reporters in voice messages responding to questions sent via a WhatsApp chat.

Ukraine has been fighting Russia since 2014, when it illegally annexed Crimea and Moscow-backed separatists took up arms in the Donbas, a vital industrial region in eastern Ukraine.

Details of the security guarantees have not become public but Zelenskyy said Monday that they include how a peace deal would be monitored as well as the “presence” of partners. He didn’t elaborate, but Russia has said it won’t accept the deployment in Ukraine of troops from NATO countries.

As indications suggest negotiations could come to a head in January, before the fourth anniversary of Russia’s full-blown invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday claimed that Russian troops are advancing in the eastern Donetsk region of Ukraine and are also pressing their offensive in the southern Zaporizhzhia region.

Putin has sought to portray himself as negotiating from a position of strength as Ukrainian forces strain to keep back the bigger Russian army.

He also emphasized at a meeting with senior military officers the need to create military buffer zones along the Russian border.

“This is a very important task as it ensures the security of Russia’s border regions,” he said.