US President Donald Trump has claimed that Russian President Vladimir Putin has agreed to a one-week halt to attacks on major cities, including the Ukrainian capital Kiev, as the country grapples with plummeting winter temperatures, and the Kremlin appears to be at least partially confirming Trump’s words.
President Trump made the assertion Thursday during a Cabinet meeting at the White House.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Friday that the Russian government had agreed to President Trump’s “personal request” to halt attacks on the capital Kiev until February 1. The US president’s request was made to “create favorable conditions for negotiations,” Peskov said.
Trump did not say when his conversation with Putin took place.
However, Peskov did not elaborate on whether the agreement would extend to other Ukrainian cities. He also declined to comment on whether the moratorium covers all strikes or only those targeting energy infrastructure.
At Thursday’s cabinet meeting, President Trump said he had “personally asked President Putin, and President Putin agreed, not to fire on Kyiv and various other cities for a week,” citing the “extreme cold” facing Ukraine.
President Trump’s comments come as Russia steps up attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, leaving much of the country facing power shortages and blackouts.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy thanked Trump and said a possible pause in attacks during the deep winter could help protect Ukraine’s critical energy infrastructure, calling power supply “the basis of life.”
“I respect the efforts of our partners to save lives. Thank you, President Trump,” Zelenskyy said in a post on X, adding that Ukraine looked forward to implementing the agreement.
President Zelenskiy acknowledged that during a tripartite meeting between US, Ukrainian and Russian officials in Abu Dhabi last week, a moratorium on attacks on energy infrastructure had been discussed.
U.S. officials raised the idea of such a pause in fighting, but it was not clear at the time whether the Russians would agree, according to people familiar with the discussions.
On Friday morning local time, Ukraine’s air force announced that Russia fired missiles and dozens of drones at targets across the country overnight.
According to the Air Force, five missiles and 25 drones were attacked in 15 areas, and 80 drones were shot down.
It did not say whether major cities or energy facilities were targeted.
All previous attempts at a temporary ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine have failed. Ukraine accused Russia of violating a three-day ceasefire scheduled for last May, but Moscow said it would maintain the ceasefire out of “humanitarian considerations.” Russian state media reported that a ceasefire had taken effect, but the Ukrainian military said attacks continued during the ceasefire. But Russia’s Defense Ministry insisted that its forces had “ceased all hostilities” and accused Ukraine of continuing attacks. Russia said it would “mirror” Ukraine’s actions.
And early in the war, Ukrainian authorities were forced to suspend plans to evacuate civilians from Mariupol after Russia violated a moratorium agreed to in March 2022.
In a post thanking Trump, Zelenskiy said these “detente measures will contribute to real progress towards ending the war.” Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, also expressed similar optimism, saying Thursday that the administration is making “significant progress” in negotiating a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine, adding after their meeting in Abu Dhabi that he believed “the Ukrainian people now have hope and expectation that we will reach a peace deal soon.”
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Wednesday that “Donetsk’s territorial claims” are a key remaining issue in negotiations to end the war in Ukraine.
“There are still gaps, but at least we’ve narrowed it down to one central problem. It’s probably going to be a very difficult problem, but it’s still a work in progress,” he told MPs.
But on Thursday, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov softened Rubio’s assessment of the current state of negotiations.
“I don’t think so,” Ushakov told Russia 1 TV in response to Rubio’s comments, according to Russian state broadcaster TASS. Ushakov earlier told Russian media that territory was the biggest among the many issues still on the agenda, according to TASS news agency.
The pause in reported Russian attacks comes at a critical time, with Ukraine facing sub-zero temperatures, exacerbated by repeated Russian attacks on critical infrastructure.
Attacks on Russia’s energy infrastructure have caused major power shortages in Kiev, and several other regions, including Odessa, Kharkiv and Donetsk, have also been hit by power outages, the country’s energy minister said.
