Confusion reigned Friday about whether RussianPresident Vladimir Putinhad agreed to halt strikes on Ukraine afterPresident Donald Trumpsaid he had personally asked him to stop attackingbecause of the "extraordinary cold."
Speaking at aCabinet meetingin the White House on Thursday, Trump said he asked Putin not to fire on Ukraine's capital, Kyiv, "and the various towns for a week and he agreed to do that."
Without elaborating on when the call with Putin took place, Trump said it was "very nice" that the Russian leader had agreed to his request. "A lot of people said, 'Don't waste the call. You're not going to get that,' and he did it and we're very happy that they did it," Trump said.
Trump did not say when the one-week period would begin and end for Ukraine, which has been hit with bitterly cold winter conditions that have brought hardship on the long-suffering population.
The White House did not respond to NBC News' request for clarification on when Putin would halt the strikes, whether Trump had agreed to anything in return and what the president would do if Russia started attacking again during the agreed break.
"As President Trump said, he asked President Putin to withhold strikes on Kyiv for one week amid extremely cold temperatures, and the Russian President agreed to do so," a spokesperson said in an email.
Kyiv and its surrounding region has been in the grip of a bitter cold snap since early this month, with overnight temperatures dipping to as low as minus 4 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 20 degrees Celsius). Although temperatures have warmed up in recent days, forecasters are predicting the mercury will plunge again next week.
Repeated Russian attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure have leftmillions of people in the dark and cold, despite best efforts to repair and restore power to the grid.
Although there were no strikes on the Kyiv region overnight, Ukraine's air force said Russia had fired a ballistic missile and launched more than 100 drones at the country with strikes recorded in 15 locations. Officials in five regions reported that several people had been killed and wounded.
Russia's Defense Ministry said Friday it struck military targets inside Ukraine, including energy facilities used to support the army.
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But Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed in a briefing with reporters that Trump had asked Putin to refrain from strikes on Kyiv for a week until Feb. 1 "in order to create favorable conditions for negotiations."
The mention of Feb. 1 added to the confusion since it is only two days away.
Peskov declined to say whether Putin had agreed to Trump's request when asked at least three times by reporters, but when pushed, he replied: "Yes, of course. It was a personal request from President Trump."
He would not elaborate on whether the hold on strikes would halt all attacks on Kyiv or just those on its energy infrastructure.
Peskov's comments have been interpreted differently by Russian state news agencies, which are usually relatively unified in their coverage of the Kremlin. RIA Novosti reported that Russia had agreed to refrain from strikes on Ukraine until Feb. 1. But Tass and Interfax said that Peskov refrained from answering questions about whether Putin agreed to Trump's request.
Russia's influential war bloggers also appeared to have been caught off guard, although most interpreted it as Moscow agreeing to a ceasefire.
Before Peskov's briefing,Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyywas quoted as saying there was "no official agreement on a ceasefire" in comments distributed by his office on Friday. "There has been no direct dialogue and no direct agreements on this matter between us and Russia," he added.
Zelenskyy said that Trump's request to Putin was "an initiative of the American side" and that Ukraine sees it as "an opportunity rather than an agreement."
But he insisted that Ukraine would support any de-escalation efforts. "If Russia does not strike our energy infrastructure — generation facilities or any other energy assets — we will not strike theirs," he said.
Trump's comments came days after thefirst trilateral meetingin Abu Dhabi between Ukraine, Russia and the U.S. Although no major breakthroughs were announced, the talks were widely seen as positive after months of stop-start diplomacy to bring the war to a close.
More talks are expected in the United Arab Emirates' capital on Sunday, but that could change because oftensions between the United States and Iran.
