President Trump said on Thursday that he "personally asked" Russian President Vladimir Putin to stop bombing Ukraine's capital Kyiv and other cities for one week, citing the frigid temperatures impacting the war-torn nation.
"I personally asked President Putin not to fire on Kyiv and the cities and town for a week during this extraordinary … it's not just like cold … it's extraordinary cold, record-setting cold over there too," the president said during his Cabinet meeting at the White House.
It's unclear when or how Trump made the request, but he claimed that the Russian president agreed to his request and that Kyiv was "very happy about it."
"I have to tell you, it was very nice. A lot of people said, 'Don't waste the call. You're not going to get that.' And he did it, and we're very happy that they did it because on top of everything else, that's not what they need is missiles coming into their towns and cities," Trump said during the Cabinet meeting.
Temperatures of minus 22 degrees Fahrenheit are slated to hit Ukraine next week, Reuters reported.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Trump issued an "important" statement about the "possibility of providing security for Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities during this extreme winter period."
"Power supply is a foundation of life. We value the efforts of our partners to help us protect lives. Thank you, President Trump! Our teams discussed this in the United Arab Emirates," Zelensky said Thursday on social platform X. "We expect the agreements to be implemented. De-escalation steps contribute to real progress toward ending the war."
During the Cabinet meeting, special envoy Steve Witkoff said that he and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner made "a lot of progress" during a meeting with five Russian generals in the United Arab Emirates over the weekend.
"The talks will continue in about a week, but lots of good things happening between counterparts," Witkoff said. "Discussing the land deal, we have a security protocol agreement that's largely finished, a prosperity agreement that's largely finished."
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