KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — The terms of Russia’s pledge to U.S. President Donald Trump to temporarily halt bombing Ukraine during one of the country’s bleakest winters in years remained unclear Friday as Ukrainians braced for even worse conditions next week.
Trump said late Thursday that President Vladimir Putin had agreed to a temporary pause in targeting Kiev and other places as the region grapples with freezing temperatures that have brought widespread hardship to civilians.
“I have personally asked President Putin not to fire on Kiev and cities and towns for a week during this extraordinary cold,” Trump said during a Cabinet meeting at the White House. Putin “agreed to it,” he said, without elaborating on when the request was made to the Russian leader.
The White House did not immediately respond to a question seeking clarity on the purpose and timing of any limited pause.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed Friday that Trump “made a personal request” to Putin to stop targeting Kiev by February 1 “in order to create favorable conditions for negotiations.”
The mention of February 1st was confusing because it’s only two days away. The cold weather is also forecast to get much worse from Sunday, with temperatures dropping further and making the time frame for a lull in attacks elusive.
Russia has tried to deny Ukrainian civilians heat, electricity and running water throughout the war, in a strategy Ukrainian officials describe as a “weaponization winter”.
Asked if Moscow agreed to Trump’s proposal, Peskov said: “Yes, of course.” But he declined to answer further questions about whether the deal covered only energy infrastructure or all airstrikes and when the strike halt was supposed to begin.
“Proof to the contrary”
Russia struck Ukrainian energy assets in several regions of Ukraine on Thursday, but there were no strikes on those facilities overnight, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Friday.
In a social media post, Zelenskyi also noted that Russia had turned its attention to targeting Ukrainian logistics networks and that Russian drones and missiles had struck residential areas in Ukraine overnight, as they do most nights during war.
Trump framed Putin’s acceptance as a concession. But Zelenskyy was skeptical as the Russian invasion approaches its fourth anniversary on February 24, with no sign that Moscow is willing to reach a peace deal despite US-led efforts to end the fighting.
“I don’t think Russia wants to end the war. There is a lot of evidence to the contrary,” Zelenskyi said on Thursday. Ukraine is prepared to halt its attacks on Russia’s energy infrastructure, including oil refineries, if Moscow also stops bombing Ukraine’s power grid and other energy assets, he said.
Russia fired 111 drones and a ballistic missile at Ukraine overnight, injuring at least three people, the Ukrainian Air Force said.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said its air defenses shot down 18 Ukrainian drones overnight over several Russian regions, as well as illegally annexed Crimea and the Black Sea.
Bitter cold forecast
Forecasters say Kiev, which has recently suffered severe power shortages, will experience an extremely cold stretch starting Friday that is expected to last until next week. Temperatures in some areas will drop to minus 30 degrees Celsius (minus 22 Fahrenheit), the State Emergency Service said.
The possibility of a reprieve in attacks on the energy sector was discussed at last weekend’s meeting in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, between envoys from Ukraine, Russia and the United States, Zelenskyy said, adding that he had agreed to adhere to a “mutual approach” to energy attacks.
“If Russia does not strike us, we will … take appropriate measures,” he told reporters.
New talks were expected in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, on Sunday, but that could change due to rising tensions between the United States and Iran.
“We are ready for compromises”
It was unclear whether and how any partial truce could work amid wider fighting and mistrust between the two countries.
“There is no ceasefire. There is no formal agreement on a ceasefire, as is usually reached during negotiations,” Zelenskyy said. “There was no direct dialogue and no direct agreement on this matter between us and Russia.”
Ukraine initially proposed a limited energy ceasefire at talks in Saudi Arabia last year, Zelenskyy said, but it did not gain traction.
Disagreement over what happens to occupied Ukrainian territory, and Moscow’s claim to possess territory it has not captured, are a key issue preventing a peace deal, according to Zelensky.
“We have repeatedly said that we are ready for compromises that lead to a real end to the war, but that have nothing to do with changes to Ukraine’s territorial integrity,” Zelenskyy said. “The American side understands this and says there is a compromise solution in terms of a free economic zone.”
Ukraine demands control of such an area, he said.
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