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U.S. President Donald Trump said Russian President Vladimir Putin has agreed to pause attacks on Ukraine for one week after Trump raised concerns over extreme cold weather affecting the country, as discussions continue on enforcing any future ceasefire.
Speaking to reporters, Trump said he personally contacted Putin to request a temporary halt to missile strikes, particularly against Kyiv and other cities.
“I did call up President Putin,” Trump said, noting that Ukraine was experiencing a “tremendous cold wave.”
He said he asked Putin not to “shoot for a period of one week” and claimed the Russian leader agreed.
“It’s something,” Trump added.
The Kremlin later said Trump had asked Putin to halt strikes until Feb. 1 but declined to confirm whether the Russian president had agreed to the request, according to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
Separately, Ukraine has agreed with Western partners on a multi-tier plan to respond to any future Russian ceasefire violations, according to people briefed on the discussions.
The proposal was discussed by Ukrainian, European and American officials in December and January and outlines a phased response to breaches of any armistice.
Under the plan, a violation would trigger a response within 24 hours, starting with diplomatic warnings and Ukrainian military action to stop the breach.
If hostilities continued, a second phase would involve forces from a “coalition of the willing,” including many EU members, the U.K., Norway, Iceland and Türkiye.
If the violation escalated into a broader attack, a coordinated military response backed by the United States would follow within 72 hours, the officials said.
Envoys from Kyiv, Moscow and Washington are set to meet again in Abu Dhabi for talks aimed at ending the war.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in January that security guarantees negotiated with the U.S. and European partners were “100% ready,” adding that Kyiv was waiting to sign them.
Trump has offered Ukraine security guarantees described by Zelenskyy as “NATO-like,” though U.S. officials have said such guarantees would depend on Kyiv first agreeing to a peace deal.
Ukraine has rejected territorial concessions, including surrendering the Donbas region, while Russia has said it will not agree to a ceasefire without a comprehensive settlement and has rejected any deployment of Western troops.
Russia has continued missile and drone attacks on Ukraine’s infrastructure in recent weeks, disrupting electricity, heating and water supplies in Kyiv during what officials describe as the harshest winter of the war.
Moscow has dismissed proposed Western-backed security guarantees. Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said such guarantees must apply to both Russia and Ukraine to be valid.
Ukraine, Russia and the U.S. held their first three-way talks in Abu Dhabi last month, where discussions focused on possible parameters for ending the war and Washington’s role in monitoring any agreement.
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