Russia halts strikes on Kyiv until Sunday at Trump's request, Zelenskiy to reciprocate

KYIV, Jan 30: Russia has agreed to a request from U.S. President Donald Trump to halt airstrikes on Kyiv until February 1 amid harsh winter temperatures, and Ukraine said it was ready to reciprocate as Washington pushes for a diplomatic solution to end the war.

But as the Ukrainian capital braces for another bitterly cold spell from Sunday, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Friday there was no formal truce between the two countries. He added that Russia had shifted to hitting Ukrainian logistics. Russia has bombed Ukraine's roads and railways in recent days.

The Kremlin said President Vladimir Putin had accepted Trump's request to stop bombarding Kyiv to create "favourable conditions" for peace talks. In recent weeks, Russian strikes on energy infrastructure in Kyiv have left hundreds of thousands of people without heating in their homes for days on end at times as temperatures have dipped below minus 15 degrees Celsius. �"REUTERS