Moscow, Jan 30 (EFE).- Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday complied with a temporary energy truce requested by US President Donald Trump ahead of renewed three-way talks in Abu Dhabi, while making clear that Moscow’s demands over Donbas and the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant remain non-negotiable.
Russia remains firm in its demand for full control of the Donbas region, as well as the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, the largest in Europe, which has been under Russian control for more than two years.
Halt to strikes amid record cold
Trump surprised observers on Thursday by announcing that Putin had agreed to suspend attacks on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities, even if only for a week.
«Because of the cold, extreme cold… I personally asked President Putin not to fire on Kyiv and the cities and towns for a week during this,» Trump told a cabinet meeting at the White House.
«It’s not just like cold, it’s extraordinary cold. Record setting cold, over there too, they are having the same, it’s a big pile of bad weather,» said Trump He said the US was “very happy” it was being done.
“Because on top of everything else, that’s not what they need is missiles coming into their towns and cities.»
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said said ]Trump personally asked Putin to halt airstrikes on Kyiv for a week, until Feb. 1, “in order to create favorable conditions for the negotiations” in Abu Dhabi expected to take place on Sunday.
“I have nothing more to add. I would only emphasize that the aim is to create favorable conditions for negotiations,” he said, responding to repeated questions from reporters.
A few days earlier, Putin criticized Kyiv for calling for an energy truce while, according to Moscow, Ukrainian forces continue to strike civilian infrastructure in Russian regions.
After thanking Trump, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed that no Russian attacks on energy facilities were recorded overnight. Russia’s Defense Ministry also made no mention of such strikes in its daily military report.
“There were no strikes on energy facilities last night, but yesterday afternoon our energy infrastructure in several regions was hit. We are now observing a shift by the Russian army toward strikes on logistics,” Zelenskyy said following a videoconference with regional officials.
Zelenskyy also announced that Ukraine would adhere to the energy truce.
“If Russia does not attack our energy system, whether generation capacity or any other element, we will not attack their energy system,” he said in remarks to journalists quoted by the Ukrainian public agency Ukrinform.
Since late last year, millions of Ukrainians have endured repeated power and heating outages following large-scale Russian strikes on energy infrastructure. Ukraine is currently facing one of the harshest winters in recent decades.
Donbas remains non-negotiable
At the same time, on the eve of renewed U.S.-mediated talks in Abu Dhabi, both sides made clear they would not compromise on territorial issues.
Zelenskyy said Ukraine would under no circumstances accept Russia’s territorial demands, which include the withdrawal of Ukrainian forces from the roughly 5,000 square kilometers of territory they still control in the Donetsk region.
“So far, we have not found any compromise on the territorial issue, specifically in eastern Ukraine. We are talking about the Donetsk region,” he said.
While reiterating openness to a U.S.-proposed demilitarized economic zone in areas currently under Ukrainian control, Zelensky stressed that such arrangements could not come at the expense of Ukraine’s sovereignty.
The Kremlin responded sharply, particularly regarding the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.
“The Zaporizhzhia plant has been under Russian control for two years,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said. “Does this mean that the Kyiv regime intends to recover this nuclear power plant by military means? Does it plan to attack the nuclear facility?”
On Donbas, Peskov said that “the dynamics on the front speak for themselves,” adding that there was little more to discuss.
Zelenskyy has previously proposed that electricity generated by the Zaporizhzhia plant be shared among Ukraine, the United States, and Russia. Moscow, meanwhile, has sought to legally incorporate the facility into its energy infrastructure.
Zelenskyy also highlighted what he described as a key weakness in U.S. mediation, calling on Washington to provide firm security guarantees, similar to NATO’s Article 5—before Kyiv agrees to any concessions.
“We need something we can rely on,” he said. “In this case, the main thing we can rely on is security guarantees.” EFE
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