Trump says Putin vowed to halt Ukraine strikes due to cold

Strikes by Russian forces killed six people in central and southern Ukraine on Thursday, AFP reported

US President Donald Trump said he had successfully appealed to Russian President Vladimir Putin to halt the bombing of cities and towns in Ukraine as the country prepares for an extreme cold snap.

“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 Thursday during a Cabinet meeting at the White House.

Trump said leadership in Ukraine “almost didn’t believe it” but was “very happy” with the Russian leader’s pledge.

“On top of everything else, that’s not what they need — is missiles coming into their towns and cities,” Trump said.

Temperatures are expected to plunge far below freezing across Ukraine this week. Many people in the country are already facing heating and electricity outages with infrastructure damaged by recent Russian attacks. Strikes by Russian forces killed six people in central and southern Ukraine on Thursday, AFP reported, citing regional officials.

The Russian embassy in Washington referred questions about Trump’s comments to Putin’s office and the foreign ministry. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told reporters in Moscow earlier Thursday that the government will not discuss the content of private diplomatic conversations.

“Those trying to make all sorts of statements on what is being discussed and who promised what and to whom are treating the negotiating practices in a somewhat negligent manner and are demonstrating a certain level of indecency,” he said, according to an official transcript.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s government had no immediate response to Trump’s remarks.

Zelenskiy said Wednesday he believed, based on intelligence, that Russia was preparing a large-scale drone and missile attack on the country’s energy infrastructure.

“Everyone who truly wants peace must think about how to ensure that the Russians are preparing not for new massive attacks but for ending the war,” the Ukrainian leader said in a Telegram post.

Yet Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, expressed optimism on the status of ongoing talks to broker an end to the war between Russia and Ukraine, saying there were “lots of good things happening between the counterparties.”

“We have a security protocol agreement that’s largely finished, a prosperity agreement that’s largely finished,” he said. “And I think the people of Ukraine are now hopeful and expectant that we’re going to deliver a peace deal sometime soon.”

Those discussions are expected to resume early next month.