US President Donald Trump on Thursday (Jan. 29) appealed to the Russian President not to attack Kyiv as Russia announced a bilateral talk with Ukraine.
“I personally asked President Putin not to fire into Kyiv and the various towns for a week and he agreed to do that,” Trump said during a president’s cabinet meeting on Thursday.
He said civilians in Ukraine are suffering from extreme cold, made worse due to Russian attacks.
Russian strikes on energy infrastructure leave many Ukrainians without heating in their apartments, with temperatures dropping to 0° Fahrenheit.
As the fighting continues, the U.S. continues to work on a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine.
Over the weekend, U.S. officials met with Russian and Ukrainian counterparts simultaneously for the first time.
US special envoy Steve Witkoff said, “We think we made a lot of progress. The talks will continue in about a week, but lots of good things happening between the counterparties.”
Witkoff added that the different sides discussed a land deal on how to divide occupied territory, a security protocol agreement for security guarantees after the fighting ends, and a prosperity agreement which aims to rebuild Ukraine after the war.
The Kremlin on Thursday announced that Russia is scheduled to meet Ukraine directly without US involvement this coming Sunday.
It declined to say what the topics of discussions would be.
“The details will be finalized before the meeting and the modalities will be finalized by Sunday. Everything will be done to ensure the possibility of continuing the dialogue,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
Peskov declined to confirm whether Russia and Ukraine had agreed to a ceasefire on energy infrastructure.
Meanwhile, the European Union (EU) on Thursday said Russia is making use of the winter to gain advantage on the battlefield.
“Russia is failing to win on the battlefield, so it tries to weaponize winter,” said Kaja Kallas, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. “Now energy is the new frontline.”
In efforts to weaken Russia, the EU on Thursday added Russia to its anti-money laundering blacklist, aiming to slow down and increase the cost of transactions with Russian banks.
