Russia halts air strikes on Kyiv until Feb 1 at Trump’s request, targets logistics
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Residents standing at the site of an overnight attack by Russian drones and missiles in the Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia, on Jan 28.
PHOTO: REUTERS
- Trump requested, and Putin agreed to, halt airstrikes on Kyiv until Feb 1 for peace talks; Ukraine is ready to reciprocate by halting attacks on Russian refineries.
- Zelensky stated there's no formal truce, Russia shifted to hitting Ukrainian logistics, and Kyiv's air defences are depleted due to delayed US weapon payments.
- Despite diplomatic efforts, key territorial issues remain unresolved, with ongoing Russian advances and intensified strikes on Ukraine's power sector.
AI generated
KYIV - Russia has agreed to a request from US President Donald Trump to halt air strikes on Kyiv until Feb 1 amid harsh winter temperatures, and Ukraine said it was ready to reciprocate as Washington pushes for a diplomatic solution to end the war.
But as the Ukrainian capital braces itself for another bitterly cold spell from Feb 1, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Jan 30 there was no formal truce between the two countries.
He added that Russia had shifted to hitting Ukrainian logistics, after having bombed Ukraine’s roads and railways in recent days.
The Kremlin said President Vladimir Putin had accepted Mr Trump’s request to stop bombarding Kyiv to create “favourable conditions” for peace talks.
In recent weeks, Russian strikes on energy infrastructure in Kyiv have left hundreds of thousands of people without heating for days on end at times as temperatures have dipped below minus 15 deg C.
“President Trump did indeed make a personal request to President Putin to refrain from striking Kyiv for a week until Feb 1 in order to create favourable conditions for negotiations,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, confirming that the Russian leader had agreed.
Mr Zelensky said Ukraine was ready to reciprocate, halting its attacks on Russian refinery infrastructure, saying this was “an opportunity rather than an agreement”.
In a post on the Telegram app, Mr Zelensky said there were no strikes on Ukrainian energy facilities overnight.
In a separate briefing with reporters, Mr Zelensky said Ukrainian air defences had been left depleted because Kyiv’s European allies had delayed payments to the US under the PURL weapons purchase programme.
As a result, he said, US Patriot air defence missiles had not arrived ahead of heavy Russian airstrikes on Kyiv that knocked out power to swathes of the city this month.
Truce doubts
Kyiv residents doubted the short energy truce would lead to any lasting improvement, saying they had no choice but to endure a winter that has become the darkest and coldest of the nearly four-year war.
“I trust neither Putin, nor Trump. So I think that even if he (Putin) complies now, he will stockpile missiles and will still keep firing,” said Kyiv pensioner Kostiantyn, 61, who did not provide his family name.
“Putin’s goal is the destruction of Ukraine, and all we can do is resist.”
The Ukrainian Air Force said Russia had launched a ballistic missile and 111 drones in its latest overnight attacks on Ukraine.
Mr Zelensky said the missile damaged warehouses of a US company in the northeastern Kharkiv region, without identifying the firm.
Ukraine’s military said it hit several Russian logistics facilities in the occupied Zaporizhzhia region in the south-east of the country.
A report from Russia’s Defence Ministry showed that the number of Ukrainian drones shot down overnight fell to 18 last night, compared with 168 downed during the New Year night.
Mr Zelensky said the opportunity to de-escalate the conflict via a suspension of air strikes on energy installations was proposed by the US at the Abu Dhabi talks
He added that the date or location for a follow-up round of talks, currently expected this Sunday again in the United Arab Emirates, could change.
Movements towards a ceasefire for the energy sector come at a critical moment. Russian troops are continuing their grinding advance in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, and Moscow sends hundreds of drones in nearly daily attacks on Ukrainian towns and cities far from the front lines.
Temperatures set to plunge
Since autumn 2025, Russia has intensified its strikes on Ukraine’s power sector, plunging Kyiv into darkness and cold amid one of the harshest winters of the past decade.
Weather forecasters say that from Feb 1 temperatures in the Ukrainian capital are forecast to plunge as low as minus 26 deg C.
The Ukrainian capital is reeling from the consequences of previous strikes that knocked out electricity and heating for its residents.
Mr Zelensky said 378 residential high-rise buildings remained without heating on Jan 30.
Diplomatic efforts to end the war have so far produced no tangible results. Mr Zelensky said the sensitive territorial issue of Donetsk and the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Europe’s largest, remained unresolved.
Mr Putin’s demand that Ukraine surrender the 20 per cent it still holds of Donetsk
Mr Zelensky said he did not know when the next meeting of Russian, Ukrainian and US negotiators would be held.
“The date or the location may change – because, in our view, something is happening in the situation between the United States and Iran. And those developments could likely affect the timing,” Mr Zelensky said.
But it is important, he added, that the same personnel attend the next round to monitor the progress of what was previously agreed.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio had said on Jan 28 that Mr Trump’s top envoys, Mr Steve Witkoff and Mr Jared Kushner, who attended the previous round of talks, would not participate in the next weekend meeting in Abu Dhabi.
US officials said headway was made at last weekend’s talks but so far no details have emerged. Russia and Ukraine have both said there has been no sign of compromise on the critical question of territory. REUTERS
