Trump claims Putin promised to stop bombing Ukraine's cities due to extreme cold

• U.S. officials hope to leverage such confidence-building measures in peace negotiations.
• But a Ukrainian official was initially skeptical, telling Axios: "Only the reality itself can prove it. We will see how tonight goes."
• Earlier on Thursday, the Kremlin declined to comment on reports in Russian social media that such a pause had been agreed.

What he's saying: "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," Trump said.

Driving the news: The Russians have been conducting massive air strikes on Kyiv and other cities in Ukraine almost every night. The strikes hit power plants and created wide-ranging blackouts.

• Millions of Ukrainian civilians have been suffering without heat or running water.

Behind the scenes: A Ukrainian official said U.S. mediators raised this issue during trilateral talks with the Russians last weekend in Abu Dhabi.

• At the time the Russians said they would look into it, but it wasn't clear whether they had agreed, according to the Ukrainian official.
• "Our teams discussed this in the United Arab Emirates. We expect the agreements to be implemented. De-escalation steps contribute to real progress toward ending the war," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote on X.
• Witkoff said at the Cabinet meeting that the first round of talks had focused on territory and claimed significant progress was made.

What's next: Witkoff said a second round of trilateral talks between the U.S., Ukraine and Russia would take place "in about a week."