Ukrainian president and German chancellor praise US efforts after Trump claims Putin agreed to pause, as six killed in latest Russian strikes. What we know on day 1,437
German chancellor Friedrich Merz and Volodymyr Zelenskyy have welcomed “efforts in favour of a truce”, Berlin said, after Donald Trump claimed Vladimir Putin had agreed to a week-long halt on attacks on Ukraine’s power grid after Moscow’s strikes left millions without heating during an “extreme” cold snap. Merz at the same time stressed that “the systematic and brutal destruction of Ukraine’s civilian infrastructure by Russian attacks” was “still ongoing”, which he condemned “in the strongest terms”, his spokesperson said on Thursday. Zelenskyy said he was counting on the US to help secure the claimed week-long pause in Russian attacks on Ukraine’s energy network. The Ukrainian president thanked Trump and said he expected the agreement to be implemented. “We hope the United States can make this happen.” Ukraine’s state weather agency on Thursday forecast a drastic dip in temperatures to as low as minus 30C in coming days as authorities race to restore power services.
Donald Trump claimed Vladimir Putin agreed to halt strikes on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure for one week after he issued a personal appeal to the Russian leader, Andrew Roth reports. Volodymyr Zelenskyy did not immediately confirm the ceasefire was in place but said that the US president had made an “important statement … about the possibility of providing security for Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities during this extreme winter period”. The short-term ceasefire, which has not been confirmed by Russia, was first announced during a cabinet meeting of Trump’s top advisers at the White House on Thursday. “I personally asked President Putin not to fire into Kyiv and various towns for a week and he agreed to do that,” Trump said at the meeting.
