By Euronews
Published on •Updated
US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that Russian leader Vladimir Putin had agreed not to target Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities for one week because of the freezing winter temperatures.
“I personally asked President Putin not to fire on Kiyv and the cities and towns for a week during this. It’s extraordinary. It’s not just like cold. It’s extraordinarily cold, record-setting cold,” Trump said during a Cabinet meeting at the White House.
Trump added that Putin has “agreed to that,” although the Kremlin has not yet responded or confirmed the statement.
When asked earlier on Thursday whether Ukraine and Russia were discussing a mutual halt on strikes on energy infrastructure, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov refused to comment.
Russia has been battering the country’s energy grid as temperatures tumble below freezing and the invasion’s fourth anniversary looms.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said last week that over half of all homes in Kyiv were without heating and most of the city was cut off from electricity after Russian strikes earlier in the week.
Last weekend, Ukrainian, Russian and American officials took part in a first round of trilateral talks in the United Arab Emirates, with another meeting expected to take place on Sunday.
However, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned on Wednesday that Russia was planning another large-scale strike despite the plan for further talks.
The development comes as Kyiv is about to head into another stretch of frigid weather, with temperatures expected to drop to -30 degrees Celcius, according to the State Emergency Service.
Zelenskyy thanked Trump for his efforts, “Power supply is a foundation of life. We value the efforts of our partners to help us protect lives,” he wrote in a post on X.
“Our teams discussed this in the United Arab Emirates. We expect the agreements to be implemented. De-escalation steps contribute to real progress toward ending the war,” he added.
Meanwhile, Russia attacked Ukraine overnight with over 100 drones and one missile, Kyiv’s air force said on Friday.
“On the night of 30 January (from 6:00 pm on 29 January), the enemy launched an Iskander-M ballistic missile from Voronezh region, as well as 111 strike drones,” the air force said in a statement.
Additional sources • AP