Putin ‘Kept His Word’ On Ceasefire, Trump Says, As Large Attacks On Kiev Resume

President Trump has praised his Russian counterpart for keeping his word on the brief winter freeze ceasefire. Last week Trump had picked up the phone and urged President Putin to refrain from attacking Kiev and other major cities.

Trump said of the surprise pause that Putin had agreed to halt strikes for one week. Trump has newly told reporters that the agreement expired on Sunday, and that Russia kept its word.

“It was Sunday to Sunday, and it opened up and he hit them hard last night,” Trump explained at the White House on Tuesday. “He kept his word on that… we’ll take anything, because it’s really, really cold over there.”

Russian attack in the Ukrainian capital on Feb. 3, 2026. via Associated Press

But it was only last Thursday Jan.29 that first Trump unveiled the contents of the prior Putin call. It seems the pause lasted a little short of a full week, but maybe Trump is only counting business days? It is possible the phone call in question was held significantly before the announcement, but it remains there has not been a full week that Kiev hasn’t seen bombs or drones in the sky.

What Trump said at the time was: “Because of the extreme cold…I personally asked President Putin not to fire on Kiev and the cities and towns for a week.” He went on to say Putin “agreed to do that,“ adding that “we’re very happy” with the outcome.

On Wednesday, American, Ukrainian and Russian representatives are once again gathered the United Arab Emirates for the next round of trilateral talks in an effort to forge a final peace. The Abu Dhabi talks are expected to run until Thursday. 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is complaining about the timeline of Trump’s winter brief truce, saying it only began last Friday, a day after Trump announced he reached the temporary deal.

And then as Reuters reported:

Russia’s air attack on Ukraine’s energy system overnight on Tuesday was the biggest since the start of 2026, Ukraine’s leading private energy company said.

Power generation and distribution facilities came under attack, and thousands of people were left without electricity, DTEK said on the Telegram messaging app. 

Over 70 missiles and several hundred drones were sent, some knocking out power and thermal plants, amid ongoing slow and costly repairs.

“We await the reaction of America to the Russian strikes,” Zelensky said in a Tuesday night statement. “It was the U.S. proposal to halt strikes on energy during diplomacy and severe winter weather. The president of the United States made the request personally. Russia responded with a record number of ballistic missiles.”

He is demanding that Russia feel the pain. “The US Congress has long been working on a new sanctions bill, and there must be progress on it. European partners can take decisive steps regarding Russian oil tankers’ earnings for the war. Russia must feel pressure so that it moves in negotiations toward peace,” Zelensky added – though one wonders what there is left to sanction.

The consequences of the attack on Kyiv. pic.twitter.com/XSCs8eRgLY

— WarTranslated (@wartranslated) February 3, 2026

Ukrainian officials have condemned what they are calling a “winter genocide” – given that the latest big strike happened when it is -20C (-4F) in the capital. That’s where more than 1,000 tower blocks in the capital were left without heating once again in the wake of the assault which marked the end of the Trump-Putin short truce.