Kremlin Confirms Trump Asked Putin to Pause Strikes on Kyiv – No Word on Response

The Kremlin confirmed Friday that Donald Trump personally asked Vladimir Putin to halt attacks on Kyiv until Feb. 1 – but it’s unclear if Putin agreed.

“I can say that 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 favorable conditions for negotiations,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

Trump earlier told a White House cabinet meeting that he asked Putin to stop strikes on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities for a week – and that Putin agreed.

Claims of a pause first emerged Thursday, when a pro-Kremlin war blogger said Russia had temporarily halted strikes on Kyiv and energy targets until Feb. 3. Ukrainian bloggers reported a parallel order not to hit Russian energy facilities.

Ukraine, however, has no ceasefire and no direct deal with Russia, President Volodymyr Zelensky said. Kyiv is ready to hold off on energy strikes – if Moscow does.

“This is not an agreement. It is an opportunity,” Zelensky said. “If Russia does not strike us, we will not strike back.” He stressed that any outcome depends entirely on Moscow.

Talks in Abu Dhabi covered what Zelensky called “the most sensitive issues,” including separate Ukraine-US discussions.

Washington urged both sides to show restraint, particularly on long-range strikes, to open space for diplomacy. Zelensky said Kyiv will act mirror-like – and only mirror-like.

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