Russia says Ukraine tried to attack Putin's residence but Kyiv says Moscow is lying

[Emrys]

41. Since the details of any "security guarantee" for Ukraine we've heard of so far

include a clause that says all bets are off if Ukraine attacks Russia, this looks like (a) an obvious attempt to set back the talks between Trump and Zelensky, and (b) a trial balloon to see how easy it might be to derail any "peace" settlement in future. If Trump's anywhere near power, things don't look good. The Ukrainians definitely understand this.

Whether Trump believes US intelligence, once/if they've bothered to brief him, rather than the Russians in this instance is almost moot. No evidence at all has been presented of any such strikes or interceptions, and it sounds like no non-Russian intelligence agencies are buying in to it.

In any case, what rules apply here, and who sets them?

Putin bombs civilians umpteen times a day and has had packs of his thugs attempting to assassinate Zelensky and harm his family at least since the 2022 hostilities started, not to mention picking off members of his government. If a mere attempted attack on a property of Putin's - and there's been no indication he was anywhere near, nor that the Ukrainians mistakenly (and stupidly) thought he'd be there - is enough to cause such pearl-clutching, well ...