Russia has said that it has invited Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to Moscow for peace talks, as US-led efforts to end the nearly four-year war in Ukraine gain momentum. The Kremlin's statement came hours after it declined to comment on rumours that Moscow and Kyiv have agreed to stop striking each other's energy infrastructure.
"We are talking about Moscow at this point," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was quoted as saying by TASS on Thursday. "In diplomatic language, any other speculations are moot".
This is the second straight day a top Kremlin official has expressed interest in hosting Zelensky for peace talks in Moscow. On Wednesday, top Putin aide Yuri Ushakov said Russia has invited Zelensky to Moscow if he is indeed ready for a meeting.
A new round of Abu Dhabi talks between Russia and Ukraine negotiating delegations is scheduled for Sunday, and US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that "very good things" were happening in the process. "In that case, we will guarantee his safety and the necessary conditions for his work," Russia Today quoted Ushakov as saying.
Last weekend's Washington-mediated peace talks in Abu Dhabi renewed efforts to clinch a peace deal, but differences persisted between the Russian and Ukrainian negotiating stances. An unnamed US official said Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin were "very close" to setting up a meeting after the US mediated the talks.
However, Russia's drone attacks in Ukraine continue, with a recent one killing three people in southern Zaporizhzhia region on Thursday. Zelensky warned that Moscow is planning another large-scale barrage despite plans for further US-brokered peace talks.
Ukraine has alleged that Russia's drone attacks target power grids and civilian infrastructure, cutting off electricity for millions in sub-zero temperatures. Ukraine's Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov said Russia conducted over 6,000 drone attacks in Ukraine last month, forcing Kyiv to change its air defence strategy. Russia's actions are undermining peace talks, Ukraine has alleged.
Putin to ‘pause’ strikes
US President Donald Trump said Thursday that Russia's Vladimir Putin agreed to a personal request to halt attacks on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities, after Moscow's strikes left millions without heating during an "extreme" cold snap.
Trump's claim comes as Russian strikes on Ukraine's power infrastructure have disrupted light, heating and water supplies, with temperatures plummeting and leaving the war-battered country facing a fresh humanitarian crisis.
The Kremlin did not immediately confirm any truce, while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked Trump and said he was counting on Washington to secure the pause in attacks.
"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.
"They've never experienced cold like that. And I personally asked President Putin not to fire into Kyiv and the various towns for a week. And he agreed to do that, and I have to tell you, it was very nice," he added.
Ukraine's state weather agency on Thursday forecast a drastic dip in temperatures to as low as minus 30C in coming days as authorities race to restore services.
Trump, who met Putin in Alaska last year amid great fanfare but without achieving any breakthrough, said he trusted the Russian leader to honour the agreement.
"People said, 'don't waste the call. You're not going to get that.' And he did it," said Trump, without specifying when the conversation took place, or when the purported truce would start.
- 'Make this happen' -
Zelensky, who met Trump in Davos last week despite patchy relations since their Oval Office bust-up nearly a year ago, thanked the US president for his "important statement."
"We hope the United States can make this happen," the Ukrainian leader said.
The pause had initially been discussed last weekend during three-way talks in Abu Dhabi between Russia, Ukraine and the United States, Zelensky said.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz also welcomed what he termed "efforts in favour of a truce".
Merz at the same time stressed that "the systematic and brutal destruction of Ukraine's civilian infrastructure by Russian attacks" was "still ongoing", which he condemned "in the strongest terms", his spokesman, Stefan Kornelius, said.
A second round of trilateral negotiations in Abu Dhabi is scheduled to begin on Sunday as Trump pushes his plan to end the nearly four-year-old invasion by Russia.
Putin met Emirati counterpart Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan in Moscow on Thursday ahead of those talks. The UAE has emerged as a key mediator in the war.
The talks come as Ukraine faces one of its most difficult periods since Russia's February 2022 invasion, with Moscow's forces grinding slowly on in the east and bitter cold closing in.
Zelensky warned in an evening address on Wednesday of fresh Russian attacks on energy facilities.
Russian attacks killed six people in central and southern Ukraine on Thursday, regional authorities and emergency services said.
But Trump has repeatedly said in recent days that he believes a ceasefire is possible.
At the cabinet meeting on Thursday, Trump said there had been "a lot of progress" in the talks.
Trump's roaming envoy Steve Witkoff said he was also confident there would be a truce, saying that the US president had a "friendship" with his Russian counterpart.
"The president, what he said, is true," he said in response to an AFP reporter at the premiere of a documentary about Trump's wife Melania.
"And I think that he and Vladimir Putin have a friendship, and I think that allows them to talk and to have a relationship that hopefully will help things out here, get to a settlement and save a lot of lives.'–Agencies