Ukraine reports quieter night as Trump says Putin agreed to pause attacks on cities

Ukraine reported a relatively quiet night on Friday after US President Donald Trump said Russian President Vladimir Putin had agreed to temporarily refrain from attacking Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities during an extreme cold spell.

The Kremlin confirmed that Russia had agreed to cease strikes on Kyiv until Sunday in order to “create favourable conditions” for peace talks. However, it did not clarify whether the pause would extend to energy infrastructure, a key target of Russian attacks during winter.

Air raid alerts were issued in eight Ukrainian regions overnight into Friday, while two people sustained minor injuries in the Zaporizhzhia region, according to Ukrainian authorities. No fresh attacks on electricity or heating facilities were reported by Friday morning.

Temperatures in the capital, Kyiv, are forecast to fall to minus 24 degrees Celsius over the coming days. Russia has intensified strikes on Ukraine’s power grid during previous cold periods since the invasion began in February 2022.

Ukrainian officials had been expecting a major wave of attacks ahead of the cold snap. If the pause holds, it could mark a limited advance in US-led efforts to reduce hostilities.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said President Putin had ordered a halt to strikes on Kyiv “for a week until 1 February” at President Trump’s personal request. He declined to comment on whether Russia would refrain from targeting energy infrastructure, presenting the move as an attempt to facilitate US-mediated peace negotiations.

Despite recent calm in the capital, Kyiv has recorded more than 530 air raid alerts this week, according to monitoring groups. Ukraine’s air force said over 100 drones and a ballistic missile were launched overnight at regions near the front line.

Speaking at a televised cabinet meeting in Washington on Thursday, Trump said he had personally asked Putin not to strike Kyiv and other towns for a week. “He agreed to do that,” Trump said, adding that Ukrainians were “struggling badly” in freezing weather.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky later described Trump’s remarks as an “important statement” on the possibility of providing security for Ukrainian cities during the extreme winter period. However, he said there had been no direct agreement with Russia to pause attacks on energy infrastructure, adding that Ukraine would respond reciprocally if Moscow did so.

Residents in Kyiv expressed scepticism over the reported pause, citing repeated past agreements that failed to hold. City authorities said 378 apartment buildings in the capital remain without heating.

Russian, Ukrainian and US negotiators held their first trilateral talks since the war began in the United Arab Emirates last week. While all sides described the discussions as constructive, no formal agreement was announced and attacks continued in the days that followed.

Negotiations remain deadlocked over territorial issues, with Russia controlling around a fifth of Ukraine, including much of the eastern Donbas region. Kyiv has rejected any compromise that would violate its territorial integrity, including ceding Donbas or the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.