Trump: I Asked Putin Not to Strike Kyiv During 'Extraordinary Cold'

President Trump said Thursday that he had asked Russian President Vladimir Putin not to target the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv for one week as the region experiences frigid temperatures and that Putin had agreed, but there was no confirmation of that from Russia. The call for a pause in attacks on Ukraine's capital comes as Russia has been pounding the country's critical infrastructure, leaving many around the country without heat in the dead of winter, the AP reports. "I personally asked President Putin not to fire on Kyiv and the cities and towns for a week during this ... extraordinary cold," Trump said during a Cabinet meeting at the White House, adding that Putin has "agreed to that."

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was asked earlier Thursday whether a mutual halt on strikes on energy facilities was being discussed between Russia and Ukraine, and he refused to comment on the issue. Trump said that he was pleased that Putin has agreed to the pause. Kyiv is forecast to enter a brutally cold stretch starting Friday that is expected to last into next week. "A lot of people said, 'Don't waste the call. You're not going to get that.'" the president said of his request of Putin. "And he did it. And we're very happy that they did it."

• Kyiv has grappled with severe power shortages this winter. Russia has sought to deny Ukrainian civilians heat and running water over the course of the war, hoping to wear down public resistance to Moscow's full-scale invasion, which began on Feb. 24, 2022. Ukrainian officials describe the strategy as "weaponizing winter."
• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned Thursday that Moscow is planning another large-scale barrage despite plans for further US-brokered peace talks at the weekend. He said Ukrainian intelligence reports indicate Russia is assembling forces for a major aerial attack. Previous large attacks, sometimes involving more than 800 drones as well as cruise and ballistic missiles, have targeted the Ukrainian power grid.
• Authorities said Thursday that Russian drone attack killed three people in Ukraine's southern Zaporizhzhia region overnight. On Tuesday, at least five people were killed in a drone attack on a crowded passenger train in Kharkiv region, the BBC reports. Zelensky called the attack "terrorism" and said there was no "military justification" for it.