Trump says Putin has agreed to a temporary halt to energy attacks on Ukraine, but the terms remain unclear

Trump said late Thursday that President Vladimir Putin had agreed to a temporary halt to targeting Kiev and other places as the region experiences freezing temperatures that have caused widespread civilian suffering.

“I personally asked President Putin not to fire on Kiev, cities and towns for a week during this… unusual cold,” Trump said during a Cabinet meeting at the White House.

He added that Putin “agreed to this,” without clarifying when the request was submitted to the Russian leader.

Read more: Zelensky says the US security agreement for Ukraine is “100% ready” for signing

The White House did not immediately respond to a query seeking clarification about the scope and timing of any limited pause.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed on Friday that Trump had “submitted a personal request” to Putin to stop targeting Kiev until February 1 “in order to create favorable conditions for negotiations.”

The mention of February 1st has been confusing because it is only two days away. The cold weather is also expected to become much worse from Sunday, with temperatures dropping further making it difficult to understand the time frame for when attacks will pause.

Russia sought to deprive Ukrainian civilians of heat, lighting, and running water throughout the war, in a strategy that Ukrainian officials described as “weaponizing the winter.”

Read more: A major Russian strike targets the electricity grid in Ukraine in freezing temperatures

Asked whether Moscow agreed to Trump’s proposal, Peskov said: “Yes, of course.” But he refused to answer further questions about whether the agreement included only energy infrastructure or all air strikes, and when the cessation of strikes was supposed to begin.

“Evidence to the contrary”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Friday that Russia bombed Ukrainian energy assets in several regions of Ukraine on Thursday, but there were no strikes on those facilities overnight.

In a social media post, Zelensky also noted that Russia had turned its attention to targeting Ukrainian logistics networks and that Russian drones and missiles struck residential areas in Ukraine overnight, as they did most nights during the war.

Read more: Russia is using its new hypersonic missile in a major attack on Ukraine and a warning to the West

Trump framed Putin’s acceptance as a concession. But Zelensky was skeptical as the fourth anniversary of the Russian invasion approached on February 24, with no sign that Moscow was ready to reach a peace settlement despite US-led efforts to end the fighting.

“I don’t think Russia wants to end the war,” Zelensky said on Thursday. “There is a huge amount of evidence to the contrary.” He added that Ukraine is ready to stop its attacks on Russia’s energy infrastructure, including oil refineries, if Moscow also stops its bombing of the Ukrainian power grid and other energy assets.

Russia launched 111 drones and ballistic missiles into Ukraine overnight, wounding at least three people, the Ukrainian air force said.

The Russian Ministry of Defense said that its air defenses shot down 18 Ukrainian drones overnight over several Russian regions, in addition to the Crimean Peninsula and the Black Sea, which it illegally annexed.

Extreme cold forecast

Meteorologists say Kiev, which has recently suffered from severe power shortages, will experience a severe cold snap starting Friday and is expected to last until next week. The state emergency service said temperatures in some areas would drop to minus 30 degrees Celsius (minus 22 degrees Fahrenheit).

He watches: Zelensky likens the stagnation of war in Ukraine to the movie “Groundhog Day” in Davos

The possibility of stopping attacks on the energy sector was discussed at a meeting last weekend in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, between envoys of Ukraine, Russia and the United States, Zelensky said, adding that he agreed to adhere to a “mutual approach” on energy attacks.

“If Russia does not strike us, we will take similar steps,” he told reporters.

More talks are expected on Sunday in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, but that may change due to escalating tensions between the United States and Iran.

“We are ready for compromises”

It was not clear whether and how any partial truce might work amid ongoing widespread fighting and mistrust between the two countries.

Read more: Ukraine, Russia and the United States to discuss the fraught issue of territorial concessions

“There is no ceasefire,” Zelensky said. “There is no official agreement on a ceasefire, as is usually reached during negotiations.” He added: “There was neither direct dialogue nor direct agreements on this issue between us and Russia.”

Zelensky said Ukraine originally proposed a limited energy ceasefire during talks in Saudi Arabia last year, but it was not accepted.

According to Zelensky, the dispute over what happens to the occupied Ukrainian territories, and Moscow’s claim to possession of territories it does not control, are a major issue hindering a peace agreement.

“We have repeatedly said that we are ready to reach settlements that lead to a real end to the war, but this is in no way related to changes in the territorial integrity of Ukraine,” Zelensky said. He added, “The American side understands this and says that there is a compromise regarding the free economic zone.”

He said that Ukraine was demanding control over such a region.