President Donald Trump claimed Thursday that Russian strongman Vladimir Putin agreed to a weeklong cease-fire in Ukraine as the war-torn country faces frigid temperatures.
During the Trump administration’s latest cabinet meeting, the president said he “personally asked” Putin not to fire on Kyiv and other parts of Ukraine ahead of a severe stretch of cold weather expected to hit Ukraine in early February. It remains to be seen if Russia faithfully executes the cease-fire as Trump envisions. The Kremlin has not confirmed whether it agreed to the halt in fighting or not.
“I personally asked President Putin not to fire on Kyiv and the cities and towns … for a week,” Trump said.
“A lot of people said, ‘Don’t waste the call. You’re not going to get that,'” Trump continued. “And he did it. And we’re very happy that they did it.”
Putin’s forces have been conducting drone and missile attacks on the Ukrainian power grid, depriving over a million Ukrainians of heat and light during the heart of winter. Attacking civilian infrastructure has been a frequent Russian tactic during the war, which began nearly four years ago when Putin launched an unprovoked invasion 0f Ukraine.
Most recently, a Russian attack on the southeastern region of Zaporizhzhia killed three people and injured another person overnight. The attack followed a warning from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that Russia was prepared to launch another “massive strike” on Ukraine. Zelensky also said “every single” Russian strike discredits the ongoing peace talks involving U.S., Russian, and Ukrainian officials.
Those talks have resulted in multiple draft proposals but no concrete agreement between all three of the countries. Trump’s envoy, Steve Witkoff, indicated Thursday “lots of good things” are happening between the various parties as negotiations about a land deal are ongoing. Witkoff also said there are security protocol and land agreements that are “largely finished” between the sides. Ending the war in Ukraine has been a goal for Trump since he returned to office a year ago.
In early February, Ukraine is expected to experience temperatures as low as minus 22 degrees Fahrenheit in certain parts of the country. The European Union has promised to provide about $150 million, or 125 million Euros, of humanitarian aid to assist Ukraine with the difficult winter. It is the harshest winter Ukraine has experienced since the war against Russia began.
Meanwhile, combined Russian and Ukrainian casualties could potentially reach two million by spring 2026 as the grinding war of attrition drags on, according to a new analysis from the Center for Strategic and International Studies. The total number of Russian soldiers killed, wounded, or missing is 1.2 million, the most any major power has suffered since World War II.
Russian forces are advancing at an extremely slow pace of between 15 and 70 meters per day since 2024, making it the slowest offensive in a century of warfare, the think tank found. With casualties mounting, Russian forces have gained only 1.5 percent of Ukraine’s territory since the start of 2024, a far cry from the confident and optimistic outlook Putin has taken in his assessment of the war.