US President Donald Trump insisted on Thursday that he had brokered a weeklong ceasefire in the Russia-Ukraine war — citing “extreme cold” weather as the reason. Volodymyr Zelensky had thanked Trump for his efforts and welcomed the “possibility” of a pause in Russian military action on Kyiv. But the Kremlin has so far refused to comment on the matter while inviting the Ukrainian President for face-to-face talks in Moscow.
The comments from Trump came even as violence continued on the ground and officials prepared for US-mediated peace talks over the weekend. Ukrainian officials said on Thursday that three people were killed in an overnight Russian drone attack in the southern Zaporizhzhia region. The first trilateral meeting involving Russia, Ukraine and the United States was also held last week in Abu Dhabi.
Trump says he ‘personally asked Putin’ to…
“Because of the cold, extreme cold… I personally asked President Putin not to fire on Kyiv and the cities and towns. Because on top of everything else, it’s not what they need. Missiles coming to their towns [when it is this cold]. I thought It was a very good thing. Ukraine almost did not believe it and they were very happy to hear it as they are struggling very badly,” said Trump.
Kyiv is presently grappling with severe power shortages and forecast to enter a brutally cold stretch that will see temperatures drop to minus 30 degrees Celsius in some areas. Zelenskyy had warned late on Wednesday that Russia was planning another large-scale barrage despite plans for US-brokered peace talks this weekend.
Russia invites Zelensky for talks
The Kremlin confirmed on Thursday that it had invited Zelensky for talks in Moscow amid continued efforts to end the nearly four-year war in Ukraine. An unnamed US official had also told Axios on Saturday that Zelensky and Vladimir Putin were “very close” to setting up a meeting after the US-mediated talks.