However, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky disagreed, saying Russia "broke its promise" with strikes on Ukraine's energy infrastructure this week, part of a winter campaign that has left millions without heat or electricity in frigid temperatures.
Trump told reporters in the White House on Tuesday that Putin's commitment to a weeklong ceasefire had ended on Sunday, the day before Russia's latest round of attacks.
"It was Sunday to Sunday, and it opened up and he hit them hard last night," he said. "He kept his word on that … we'll take anything, because it's really, really cold over there."
Zelensky disagreed in comments that followed a meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in Kyiv on Tuesday.
"Overnight, in our view, Russia broke its promise," Zelensky said. "Either they think a week does not consist of seven full days, or they are simply betting on war and waited for the coldest days of this winter."
Trump told reporters on Jan. 29 that he asked Putin "not to fire on Kyiv and the cities and towns for a week" because of "extraordinary cold." Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Jan 30 that Putin agreed to stop targeting Kyiv until Feb. 1.
The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank, wrote in its analysis that Russia had resumed strikes against Ukrainian energy infrastructure on the night of Feb. 2.
"The February 2 to 3 strike demonstrates that Russia never intended to use the energy strikes moratorium to de-escalate the war or seriously advance the US-initiated peace negotiations," the group wrote.
When Russia resumed its strikes on Ukraine, it did so with 71 missiles and 450 drone strikes across the country, according to Ukrainian officials, with 27 locations hit.
Rutte on Tuesday filmed himself standing in front of a destroyed heating plant that had been hit by five Russian missiles and had "no military value whatsoever."
"It's only to create chaos, fear in ordinary citizens living in Ukraine and destroying civilian infrastructure," he said.
Read the full report at thehill.com.
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