Russia has agreed to President Donald Trump’s request to halt airstrikes on Kyiv until February 1. Ukraine said it is ready to reciprocate, but President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that no formal truce exists.
Attacks on energy infrastructure left hundreds of thousands without heating in temperatures dropping below minus 15°C. Temperatures are forecast to plunge to minus 26°C from Sunday.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed Putin accepted Trump’s request to create “favourable conditions” for further peace talks in Abu Dhabi this weekend. The Kremlin also invited President Zelenskyy to meet Putin in person in Moscow, which is a bid which he summarily turned down due to safety concerns. Ukraine may suspend attacks on Russian refinery sites, Zelenskyy said, calling it “an opportunity rather than an agreement.”
From President Zelenskyy’s X account, shortened, January 30:
“I held a special coordination call on the situation in Ukraine’s regions and on recovery efforts. There were no strikes on energy facilities last night, but yesterday afternoon our energy infrastructure in several regions was hit. We are now observing a shift by the Russian army toward strikes on logistics.
Drone attacks on ordinary residential areas in cities are also continuing. Furthermore, a ballistic missile was used against the Kharkiv region – warehouses belonging to a civilian production facility were damaged, and this is an American company.
Additional forces are being deployed for Kyiv – as of this morning, 378 high-rise residential buildings were without heating.”
Source: commonspace.eu with Reuters, with additional information from President Zelenskyy’s X account.
