Trump did not say when the one-week period would begin and end for Ukraine, which has been hit with bitterly cold winter conditions that have brought hardship on the long-suffering population.
The White House did not respond to NBC News’ request for clarification on when Putin would halt the strikes, whether Trump had agreed to anything in return and what the president would do if Russia started attacking again during the agreed break.
“As President Trump said, he asked President Putin to withhold strikes on Kyiv for one week amid extremely cold temperatures, and the Russian President agreed to do so,” a spokesperson said in an email.
Kyiv and its surrounding region has been in the grip of a bitter cold snap since early this month, with overnight temperatures dipping to as low as minus 4 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 20 degrees Celsius). Although temperatures have warmed up in recent days, forecasters are predicting the mercury will plunge again next week.
Repeated Russian attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure have left millions of people in the dark and cold, despite best efforts to repair and restore power to the grid.
Although there were no strikes on the Kyiv region overnight, Ukraine’s air force said Russia had fired a ballistic missile and launched more than 100 drones at the country with strikes recorded in 15 locations. Officials in five regions reported that several people had been killed and wounded.
Russian President Vladimir Putin. Maxim Shipenkov / POOL / AFP via Getty Images
Russia’s Defense Ministry said Friday it struck military targets inside Ukraine, including energy facilities used to support the army.
But Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed in a briefing with reporters that Trump had asked Putin to refrain from strikes on Kyiv for a week until Feb. 1 “in order to create favorable conditions for negotiations.”
The mention of Feb. 1 added to the confusion since it is only two days away.
Peskov declined to say whether Putin had agreed to Trump’s request when asked at least three times by reporters, but when pushed, he replied: “Yes, of course. It was a personal request from President Trump.”
