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Donald Trump said he personally asked Vladimir Putin to stop firing on Kyiv during the ‘extraordinary cold’
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Vladimir Putin has agreed not to target the Ukrainian capital Kyiv and other towns for one week, Donald Trump announced on Thursday, as the region experiences frigid temperatures.
There was no immediate confirmation from the Kremlin that the Russian leader Putin had agreed to such a pause.
But speaking at a cabinet meeting in the White House, Mr Trump told reporters: “I personally asked President Putin not to fire on Kyiv and the cities and towns for a week during this … extraordinary cold,” adding that Putin has “agreed to that.”
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was asked earlier Thursday whether a mutual halt on strikes on energy facilities was being discussed between Russia and Ukraine, and he refused to comment on the issue.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky late Wednesday warned that Moscow was planning another large-scale barrage despite plans for further U.S.-brokered peace talks at the weekend.
Kyiv, which has grappled with severe power shortages this winter, is forecast to enter a brutally cold stretch starting Friday that is expected to last into next week. Temperatures in some areas will drop to -30C, the State Emergency Service warned.
It’s not clear when the agreement will begin, but Mr Trump said: “A lot of people said, ‘Don’t waste the call. You’re not going to get that.’ And he did it. And we’re very happy that they did it.”
Trilateral peace talks are set to resume in Abu Dhabi this Sunday, following the first round of “constructive” negotiations last weekend.
On Thursday, the Kremlin said it had reiterated its invitation for Volodymyr Zelensky to come to Moscow for peace talks.
US secretary of state Marco Rubio said there might be a US presence at the follow-up talks, but special envoy Steve Witkoff and Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, who had taken part in the previous round of talks, would not be participating.
It follows the first round of three-way talks on Saturday and Sunday, which was the first trilateral meeting since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Russia and Ukraine have carried out a new exchange of their war dead, allowing relatives of those killed to bury their loved ones.
Russia handed over 1,000 Ukrainian soldiers and Kyiv handed back the bodies of 38 Russian soldiers in return, according to Kremlin aide Vladimir Medinsky.
Ukraine’s coordination centre for prisoner exchanges confirmed the exchange had taken place. The last exchange took place in October 2025 with both sides accusing each other of stalling new exchanges.
Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine will not miss out on any opportunity for peace or security guarantees, adding that the country is ready to make decisions.
He said: “We are communicating with our partners – with the American side – about truly effective formats and truly necessary results.
“Ukraine is ready for meetings, Ukraine is ready for decisions, and we expect our partners to be able to act as effectively as possible – in Europe, in the United States, everywhere. Exactly as required for a lasting peace.”
Trilateral peace talks are set to resume in Abu Dhabi this Sunday, following the first round of “constructive” talks over the weekend.
For average wage earners in Russia, it’s a big payday. For criminals seeking to escape the harsh conditions and abuse in prison, it’s a chance at freedom. For immigrants hoping for a better life, it’s a simplified path to citizenship.
All they have to do is sign a contract to fight in Ukraine.
This desperate recruitment drive is part of Moscow’s strategy to replenish its forces in the nearly four-year conflict, while simultaneously avoiding an unpopular nationwide mobilisation. The bloody war of attrition has also seen foreign combatants join the fray. Following a mutual defence treaty in 2024, North Korea reportedly sent thousands of soldiers to help Russia defend its Kursk region against a Ukrainian incursion.
Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Thursday he expected the implementation of an agreement by Russia not to fire on Kyiv and other cities for a week because of winter weather, as announced Donald Trump.
Zelensky said the days to come would show whether Moscow would abide by such an agreement.
“Our teams discussed this in the United Arab Emirates. We expect the agreements to be implemented,” Mr Zelensky wrote in English on X. “De-escalation steps contribute to real progress toward ending the war.”
Speaking immediately afterwards in his nightly video address, Mr Zelensky expressed his thanks to Washington for the initiative, which he described as halting Russian strikes on energy targets.
“Thanks to the American side for their efforts in ensuring a stop to strikes on energy (targets) at this time and let’s hope that America succeeds in ensuring this,” he said.
“We shall see what the real situation is with our energy facilities and cities in the days and nights to come.”
US president, Donald Trump has said that he asked Russian President Volodymyr Zelensky to stop attacking Kyiv for a week because of the cold temperatures.
Mr Trump speaking in a cabinet meeting on Thursday cited how it’s “extraordinarily cold” with “record setting” temperatures and added that “it’s a big pile of bad weather, the worst. They said they’ve never experienced cold like that” in Ukraine.
Trump said: “I personally asked President Putin not to fire on Kyiv and the cities and towns for a week and he agreed to do that and I have to tell you it was very nice.
“A lot of people said don’t waste the call, you’re not going to get that, and he did it and we’re very happy that they did it.”
President Volodymyr Zelensky has warned that Russia is preparing a “new massive strike” as he said the attacks discredited peace talks.
“The Russians are preparing a new massive strike – our intelligence indicates this,” he said in a video to his social media account on Wednesday.
“The United States, Europe, and all our partners have to understand how this discredits diplomatic talks. Every single Russian strike does.”
Russia has been blacklisted by the European Union on Thursday due to a risk of money laundering, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said.
“This will slow down and increase the costs of transactions with Russian banks,” Kallas told reporters.
Donetsk remains the final contentious issue preventing a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine, according to US secretary of state Marco Rubio.
“The one remaining item … is the territorial claim on Donetsk. There is active work going to try to see if both sides’ views on this can be reconciled,” he told a US Senate Foreign Relations Committee meeting.
“It’s still a bridge we haven’t crossed. It’s still a gap, but at least we’ve been able to narrow down the issue set to one central one, and it will probably be a very difficult one.”
The Kremlin reiterated its invitation for Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky to visit Moscow for peace talks on Thursday.
It follows the countries latest exchange of their war dead and rumours that an agreement has been reached to stop striking each other’s energy infrastructure.
A US official told Axios on Saturday that Zelensky and Putin were “very close” to setting up a meeting after US-brokered talks, which are to continue this weekend.
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