President Trump personally implored Russian dictator Vladimir Putin to halt missile and drone strikes on Ukrainian cities for a week, as civilians face deadly cold and widespread blackouts caused by Russia’s relentless attacks on energy infrastructure.
“I personally asked President Putin not to fire on Kyiv and the cities and towns for a week,” Trump said during a cabinet meeting on Thursday. “It’s extraordinary cold — record-setting cold over there.”
Trump said Putin agreed to the request — a rare humanitarian concession in the brutal war — calling Moscow’s response “very nice.”
“A lot of people said, ‘Don’t waste the call. You’re not going to get that.’ And he did it,” Trump said. “And we’re very happy — because the last thing those people need right now is missiles raining down on their towns and cities.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked Trump for helping “protect lives.”
“Thank you, President Trump!,” he wrote on X. “Our teams discussed this in the United Arab Emirates. We expect the agreements to be implemented. De-escalation steps contribute to real progress toward ending the war.”
The annoucement comes as Ukraine endures a winter of darkness and desperation, after repeated Russian strikes crippled power plants, heating systems, residential neighborhoods, and rail lines.
The human cost has been devastating.
In Kyiv, an elderly Holocaust survivor known as “Baba Zhenya” was recently found frozen to death in her apartment after electricity and heat failed during subzero temperatures — a heartbreaking symbol of how the energy war is killing civilians.
More than one million residents in the capital lost electricity last week, according to Ukrainian officials, as authorities scrambled to open emergency warming shelters and food distribution centers.
Zelensky said Thursday that more than 700 buildings in Kyiv remain without heat across three districts, leaving families, children, and elderly residents struggling to survive the cold.
“Repair crews are working at maximum capacity,” Zelensky wrote on X. “However, much greater speed is needed in decision-making at the city level in Kyiv.”
Across Ukraine, emergency teams are racing to restore power in Kharkiv, Sumy, Chernihiv, Dnipro, Kryvyi Rih, Odesa and other regions.
In Zaporizhzhia, Zelensky said a Russian MLRS rocket strike slammed into a residential neighborhood, hitting civilian homes with “no military targets anywhere nearby.”
Ukrainian officials warn Russia frequently re-targets repaired energy facilities, prolonging blackouts and deepening civilian suffering — meaning even a temporary pause could save lives by allowing heat and electricity to be restored.
Russian officials have not yet publicly responded to Trump’s announcement.
