In a surprising Thursday development, President Trump has claimed that Russia agreed to pause strikes on the Ukrainian capital and some other cities "for a week" - a decision he said came after direct personal intervention with Russian President Vladimir Putin. If accurate, this could represent a huge advance in the direction of peace, given the positive precedent it sets.
"Because of the extreme cold…I personally asked President Putin not to fire on Kiev and the cities and towns for a week," Trump told reporters during a cabinet meeting. According to Trump, Putin "agreed to do that," adding that "we’re very happy" with the outcome. Watch:
The claim comes amid growing speculation about behind-the-scenes de-escalation talks. Earlier in the day, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov declined to comment on reports suggesting Moscow and Kiev had agreed to a so-called "energy ceasefire."
Early in the Trump administration, there had been perhaps a few weeks of such an energy ceasefire, where strikes seemed minimal and limited - but it ultimately failed to stick or take off. Ukraine has not acknowledged any such fresh energy ceasefire.
As for Trump's assertion, it appears to rest on personal diplomacy, with no formal confirmation from the Russian or Ukrainian sides. It reportedly happened in a phone call, which Russian state media has also featured a readout of. Here's a fresh TASS report:
According to Trump, the Russian leader "agreed to do that." "And 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..., because on top of everything else, that's not what they [Ukrainians] need, [that is] missiles coming into their towns and cities. So I just thought, I should say, I thought it was a very, very good thing, and Ukraine almost didn't believe it, but they were very happy about it, because they are struggling badly," Trump added.
It was only on Wednesday that Russian drones struck Kiev and the surrounding region, killing two people and injuring others, and damaging a residential building.
So the coming days and week will determine whether it's accurate, and if it holds. Likely President Putin and his military will indeed refrain, given the Russian leader is not going to want to embarrass or make angry his American counterpart.
Again, this is somewhat unprecedented and a positive sign for Trump's personal ability to de-escalate with world leaders. Let's hope he has the same sense when it comes to avoiding major military conflict with Iran.
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/unprecedented-trump-gets-putin-halt-strikes-kiev-1-week-call
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