KYIV, Ukraine (AP) 鈥� The terms of to U.S. President Donald Trump to temporarily halt its bombardment of Ukraine during remained unclear Friday, as Ukrainians braced for even worse conditions to come next week.
Trump said late Thursday that President had agreed to a temporary pause in targeting Kyiv and other places as the region experiences freezing temperatures that have brought widespread hardship to civilians.
鈥淚 personally asked President Putin not to fire on Kyiv and the cities and towns for a week during this … extraordinary cold,鈥� Trump said during a Cabinet meeting at the White House. Putin has 鈥渁greed to that,鈥� he said, without elaborating on when the request to the Russian leader was made.
The White House didn’t immediately respond to a query seeking clarity about the scope and timing of any limited pause.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov confirmed Friday that Trump 鈥渕ade a personal request鈥� to Putin to stop targeting Kyiv until Feb. 1 鈥渋n order to create favorable conditions for negotiations.鈥�
The mention of Feb. 1 was confusing since that is only two days away. Also, the cold weather is forecast to get much worse from Sunday, with temperatures dropping even further and making the time frame for a pause in attacks hard to understand.
Russia has sought to deny Ukrainian civilians heat, light and running water over the course of the war, in a strategy that Ukrainian officials describe as 鈥渨eaponizing winter.鈥�
Asked if Moscow agreed to Trump鈥檚 proposal, Peskov said, 鈥淵es, of course.鈥� But he refused to answer further questions about whether the agreement covered only energy infrastructure or all aerial strikes, and when the halt on strikes was supposed to start.
鈥楨vidence to the contrary鈥�
Russia struck Ukrainian energy assets in several regions of Ukraine on Thursday but there were no strikes on those facilities overnight, Ukraine鈥檚 President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Friday.
In a post on social media, Zelenskyy also noted that Russia has turned its attention to targeting Ukrainian logistics networks and that Russian drones and missiles hit residential areas of Ukraine overnight, as they have most nights during the war.
Trump framed Putin’s acceptance as a concession. But Zelenskyy was skeptical as approaches its fourth anniversary on Feb. 24 with no sign that Moscow is willing to reach a peace settlement despite a .
鈥淚 do not believe that Russia wants to end the war. There is a great deal of evidence to the contrary,鈥� Zelenskyy said Thursday. Ukraine is ready to halt its attacks on Russia鈥檚 energy infrastructure, including oil refineries, if Moscow also stops its bombardment of the Ukrainian power grid and other energy assets, he said.
Russia fired 111 drones and one ballistic missile at Ukraine overnight, injuring at least three people, the Ukrainian Air Force said.
The Russian Defense Ministry said that its air defenses overnight shot down 18 Ukrainian drones over several Russian regions, as well as the illegally annexed Crimea and the Black Sea.
Bitter cold forecast
Forecasters say Kyiv, which recently endured severe power shortages, will see a brutally cold stretch starting Friday that is expected to last into 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 respite in energy sector attacks was discussed at last weekend鈥檚 , the capital of the United Arab Emirates, between envoys of Ukraine, Russia and the United States, Zelenskyy said, adding that he had agreed to adhere to a 鈥渞eciprocal approach鈥� on energy assaults.
鈥淚f Russia does not strike us, we will 鈥� take corresponding steps,鈥� he told reporters.
Further talks were expected on Sunday in Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates, but that could change because of a spike in tensions between the United States and Iran.
鈥榃e are ready for compromises鈥�
It was unclear whether and how any partial truce might work amid ongoing wider fighting and mistrust between the two countries.
鈥淭here is no ceasefire. There is no official agreement on a ceasefire, as is typically reached during negotiations,鈥� Zelenskyy said. 鈥淭here has been no direct dialogue and no direct agreements on this matter between us and Russia.鈥�
Ukraine had originally proposed a limited energy ceasefire at talks in Saudi Arabia last year, Zelenskyy said, but it gained no traction.
Disagreement over what happens to occupied Ukrainian territory, and Moscow鈥檚 demand for possession of territory it hasn鈥檛 captured, are a key issue holding up a peace deal, according to Zelenskyy.
鈥淲e have repeatedly said that we are ready for compromises that lead to a real end to the war, but that are in no way related to changes to Ukraine鈥檚 territorial integrity,鈥� Zelenskyy said. 鈥淭he American side understands this and says that there is a compromise solution regarding a free economic zone.鈥�
Ukraine demands control over such a zone, he said.
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