WASHINGTON: United States President Donald Trump said on Thursday that Russian President Vladimir Putin had agreed to temporarily halt attacks on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities for one week during an extreme cold snap, following recent strikes that damaged critical power infrastructure and left civilians without heating.
Speaking during a cabinet meeting at the White House, Trump said he personally appealed to Putin to pause military action as freezing temperatures spread across Ukraine, according to Reuters.
“They’ve never experienced cold like that,” Trump said. “And I personally asked President Putin not to fire into Kyiv and the various towns for a week, and he agreed to do that.”
Trump said Russian missile and drone attacks had significantly worsened humanitarian conditions, particularly as winter temperatures plunged well below seasonal norms.
“On top of everything else, that’s not what they need — missiles coming into their towns and cities,” he added. There was no immediate confirmation from the Kremlin regarding the reported agreement. Despite widespread scepticism, Trump said he trusted Putin to honour the commitment.
“People said, ‘don’t waste the call, you’re not going to get that.’ And he did it,” Trump said. Russia’s sustained attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure have disrupted electricity, heating and water supplies for millions, raising fears of a deepening humanitarian crisis during what Ukrainian officials warn could be the harshest winter since Russia’s full-scale invasion began.
Ukraine’s state weather agency has forecast temperatures dropping as low as minus 30 degrees Celsius (minus 22 degrees Fahrenheit) in parts of the country in the coming days, as authorities rush to restore damaged services.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy warned earlier this week of renewed Russian strikes on energy facilities, even as international partners are urged to provide additional air defence systems.
Trump said there had been “a lot of progress” in US-brokered talks between Kyiv and Moscow aimed at ending the war, now approaching its fifth year.
However, fighting continued on the ground, with regional officials reporting that Russian attacks killed at least six people in central and southern Ukraine on Thursday.
