Khaberni - The Kremlin announced today, Friday, that Russian President Vladimir Putin received a personal request from US President Donald Trump to stop the strikes on the Ukrainian capital Kyiv until February 1st, in order to create "favorable conditions" for peace negotiations.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that Putin agreed to Trump's request, but did not specify whether this includes only the capital or other Ukrainian cities as well.
Peskov added during a press conference on Friday "President Trump personally asked President Putin to refrain from bombing Kyiv for a week until February 1st, in order to create favorable conditions for negotiations".
A chance not an agreement
Ukraine responded by announcing its readiness to reciprocate and stop its attacks on Russian energy infrastructure, as stated by President Volodymyr Zelensky, describing the move as "a chance and not a formal agreement".
Zelensky added that Russia has recently shifted its focus to targeting logistical supply lines, with continued attacks on roads and railways.
Despite the announcement of the cessation of bombing on Kyiv, the Ukrainian Air Force reported that Russia launched during the night 111 attack drones and one missile, resulting in one person being injured in a residential building in the Zaporizhzhia region, and targeting civilian infrastructure in Chernihiv in the north of the country.
These developments come just days before a second round of Russian-Ukrainian talks in Abu Dhabi, which is expected to focus on key issues such as Russia's demand to control areas in eastern Ukraine, where Kyiv has rejected any concession that affects its national unity.
Zelensky mentioned that Russia has halted prisoner exchange operations, accusing the Russian side of neglecting this file, while issues like the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant and Donetsk lands remain unresolved.
The Ukrainian president stated that "diplomatic efforts to end the war have not yet yielded tangible results, with major obstacles standing in the way of any settlement, the most prominent being Russia's control over a part of Donetsk covering about 5,000 square kilometers".
With the country approaching a severe cold wave, Russian raids on energy infrastructure have caused power and heating outages for hundreds of thousands of people, amid temperatures dropping below minus 30 degrees Celsius in some areas.
