President Donald Trump has announced that Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed he would do a one–week ceasefire for Russian strikes on Kyiv.
‘Because of the cold –– extreme cold –– I personally asked President Putin not fire on Kyiv and the cities and towns for a week. He agreed to do that… during this extraordinary cold. I have to tell you, it was very nice,’ Trump said.
Trump added that Putin has ‘agreed to that,’ but there was no confirmation of that from Russia.
The president expressed his satisfaction that Putin has agreed to the temporary halt in strikes. The timing is critical, as Kyiv is bracing for a wave of dangerously low temperatures beginning Friday and persisting through the middle of next week.
‘A lot of people said, don’t waste the call, you’re not going to get that and he did it. We’re very happy that they did it,’ Trump said of their conversation.
This request for a temporary ceasefire comes as Russian forces continue to target Ukraine’s energy grid, a strategy that has crippled critical infrastructure and left vast portions of the population without heating during the coldest months of the year.
Tragedy struck southern Ukraine overnight as authorities reported that a Russian drone strike claimed three lives in the Zaporizhzhia region. This escalation comes despite preparations for U.S.–brokered peace talks scheduled for this weekend.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy remains cautious, warning that Moscow is likely positioning itself for another major offensive even as diplomatic efforts intensify.
The Trump Administration has indicated to Ukraine that any US security guarantees are contingent on Kyiv first agreeing to a peace plan that would see it surrendering territory to Vladimir Putin.
According to the Financial Times, which cited eight people familiar with talks, the US is calling on Ukraine to give up the Donbas region, its industrial heartland made up of Luhansk and Donetsk.
The White House also suggested it would promise Kyiv more weaponry to reinforce its peacetime army, but only on the condition that it agrees to withdraw its forces from the parts of the eastern region it still holds, according to two sources.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was ready to sign documents on security guarantees and a postwar $800bn ‘prosperity plan’ with the US as early as this month, giving him the upper–hand in future negotiations with the Kremlin.
But the Trump administration is now signalling that any US security assurances depend on reaching an agreement with Moscow beforehand.
Washington is yet to give its final approval to either agreement, despite the fact that Zelensky said the texts of the security guarantees, which he discussed with President Donald Trump at Davos last week, were ‘100 per cent ready’.
Putin has repeatedly demanded that Kyiv make painful territorial concessions to end the war, but Zelensky has consistently said Ukraine would not hand over the Donbas in exchange for peace.
A top Ukrainian official said it was increasingly ambiguous whether Washington would commit to assurances. ‘They stop each time the security guarantees can be signed,’ the official said.
