Trump talks about imminent agreement between Russia and Ukraine to end war
US President Donald Trump on Friday expressed great optimism about the ongoing Russian-Ukrainian peace talks in Abu Dhabi, saying that an agreement between the two sides is likely to be imminent.
This came in remarks made by Trump during the signing ceremony of presidential orders at the White House.
He expressed his desire to end the war between Russia and Ukraine as soon as possible.
In this context, Trump said that his special envoy Steve Witkoff and his son-in-law and former adviser Jared Kushner will participate in the talks hosted in the UAE capital, Abu Dhabi.
“We’re very optimistic about these negotiations… Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, they’re there (Abu Dhabi), and I think we have a chance to reach an agreement… But I think we’re very close to reaching an agreement”.
Earlier on Friday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the next trilateral meeting was planned to be held again in the United Arab Emirates next Sunday.
“But the date or venue of the meetings may change, because we believe that there are developments taking place between the United States and Iran… These issues may affect the date as well”.
Last week, Abu Dhabi hosted trilateral talks between Russia and the United States and Ukraine, as part of efforts to promote dialogue and find political solutions to the crisis between Moscow and Kyiv.
On the other hand, the Kremlin announced on Friday that President Vladimir Putin had agreed to halt the strike on Kyiv for a week ending Sunday, following a request from his US counterpart Donald Trump.
Trump said Thursday that he had asked Putin to halt attacks on Kyiv and the surrounding region because of the cold wave sweeping Ukraine.
Moscow said the US request was to advance the Washington-led negotiation process to end nearly four years of war between the two neighbors.
Russia’s recent strikes on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure have cut off electricity, heating and water supplies, with temperatures falling sharply, deepening the humanitarian crisis.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Friday that Trump personally asked President Putin to refrain from launching raids on Kyiv for a week until February 1 with the aim of creating favorable conditions for negotiations.
“They’ve never seen a cold like this before,” Trump said during a government meeting on Thursday… I personally asked President Putin to stop shelling Kyiv and neighboring cities for a week, and he agreed… That was very nice”.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced on social media on Friday: “There were no strikes on energy facilities last night”.
“But yesterday afternoon (Thursday), our energy infrastructure in several areas was attacked,” he said.
He also accused Russia of targeting logistical routes.
Prime Minister Yulia Sveridenko said: “In the past 24 hours alone, the enemy has launched seven drone strikes on railway installations”.
