Kremlin: Russia Halted Some Ukraine Strikes at Trump’s Request

By Staff, Agencies

The Kremlin has confirmed that Russia has agreed to temporarily scale back long-range strikes on Ukrainian targets following a request from US President Donald Trump.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the partial pause was introduced after Trump personally appealed to President Vladimir Putin, citing the unusually cold weather in Ukraine and the added strain it has placed on the country’s energy infrastructure.

According to Peskov, the limited moratorium is set to run until February 1 and is intended to “create favourable conditions for negotiations.” He declined to provide further details, including whether Kiev offered any reciprocal commitments.

Ukraine has for months carried out drone attacks against Russia’s energy infrastructure, arguing that economic damage would pressure Moscow in future peace talks. Russia says its retaliatory strikes are aimed at degrading Ukraine’s weapons production capacity and military logistics.

Several major Ukrainian cities, including Kiev, have recently experienced widespread power and heating outages as damage to the energy system coincided with severe winter conditions.

Last week, officials from Russia, Ukraine and the United States held their first trilateral talks aimed at de-escalating the nearly four-year-long conflict. Earlier efforts had relied on US shuttle diplomacy. The meeting in Abu Dhabi focused on security issues, as Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky continues to reject key Russian conditions for a settlement.

Moscow typically avoids publicly discussing sensitive negotiations, arguing that what it calls Ukraine-style “megaphone diplomacy” undermines progress. Commenting on Zelensky’s latest refusal to compromise, Peskov said the “dynamics of the frontline speak for themselves,” pointing to Russia’s continued advances on the battlefield.