The Ukraine Russia ceasefire moved to the centre of global diplomacy on Friday after Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed that Ukraine is on a fast-track path to European Union membership, while the Kremlin acknowledged receiving a personal request from US president Donald Trump to pause Russian attacks during extreme winter conditions.
The developments come as Kyiv, Moscow and Washington navigate fragile trilateral talks aimed at reducing hostilities after nearly four years of war.
Speaking to reporters in Kyiv, President Zelensky said Ukraine would be technically ready to join the European Union by 2027, with the main legislative and institutional steps completed by the end of 2026.
He described the accelerated accession process as part of broader security guarantees being discussed with the United States and European partners amid ongoing ceasefire negotiations.
“Technically, we will be ready in 2027,” Zelensky said. “By the end of 2026, the main steps required for EU membership will be implemented. I would like Ukraine to receive a clear timeline.”
Zelensky stressed that Ukraine remains committed to the reforms required for EU accession, including judicial reform, anti-corruption measures and economic alignment with EU standards, despite the ongoing war and pressure on state institutions.
He said EU membership was not only an economic and political objective but also a strategic anchor for Ukraine’s long-term security.
The announcement came as President Donald Trump confirmed he had personally asked Russian president Vladimir Putin to halt attacks on Ukrainian cities during a period of unprecedented cold, with temperatures in parts of Ukraine plunging to minus 30 degrees Celsius.
Trump said Putin agreed to temporarily refrain from firing on Kyiv and other major population centres.
“I personally asked President Putin not to fire into Kyiv and the various towns for a week, and he agreed to do that,” Trump said during a televised cabinet meeting. “It was very nice. A lot of people said, ‘Don’t waste the call, you’re not going to get that.’ And he did it.”
The Kremlin later confirmed it had received the request but stopped short of publicly stating whether Russia had formally agreed to the ceasefire.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Moscow had been asked to halt strikes until Sunday, 1 February, to create favourable conditions for peace negotiations, but declined to elaborate on Russia’s response.
Earlier this week, Zelensky warned that continued Russian strikes undermined confidence in peace talks. On Friday, he said that while Russia appeared to have refrained from attacking Ukraine’s energy infrastructure overnight, other targets were still being hit.
“There were no strikes on the energy sector overnight,” Zelensky said. “But Russia continued attacks on residential buildings and shifted its focus to logistics, including the use of a ballistic missile to strike warehouses belonging to a US company in the Kharkiv region.”
Ukraine’s largest energy provider, DTEK, said emergency repair crews were continuing to work in freezing conditions following earlier missile and drone attacks that had damaged power lines and left millions facing electricity shortages.
Images released by Ukrainian authorities showed workers repairing infrastructure in Kyiv amid snow and sub-zero temperatures.
Zelensky said Ukraine was prepared to reciprocate if Russia fully halted attacks on energy facilities, but stressed that no formal ceasefire agreement had yet been signed.
Read also: Scotch whisky imports cut from 10% to 5% in China trade deal, Starmer says — Ukraine war also discussed
“At this stage, this is an initiative of the American side and personally of the President of the United States,” Zelensky said. “We regard it as an opportunity rather than an agreement.”
A second round of trilateral peace talks involving delegates from the United States, Russia and Ukraine is scheduled to take place this weekend in Abu Dhabi, although Zelensky warned the meeting could be delayed due to rising tensions in Iran.
Officials from the three countries met last week in an effort to narrow differences and explore possible frameworks for de-escalation.
Despite the diplomatic activity, Zelensky reiterated that he would not meet President Putin in Moscow. Responding to renewed invitations from the Kremlin, he said such a meeting was “impossible” under current circumstances.
“I am ready for any format of a leaders’ summit,” Zelensky said. “But not in Moscow or Belarus. It is impossible for me to meet Putin in Russia’s capital.”
Meanwhile, Russian state media reported that Russian forces had captured two villages in eastern and southeastern Ukraine.
According to the TASS news agency, the defence ministry said Russian troops had taken control of Ternuvate in the Zaporizhzhia region and Berestok in the Donetsk region.
Ukrainian officials did not immediately confirm the claims.
Independent military analysts, however, said Russia’s overall advance remained historically slow.
A new analysis by the Centre for Strategic and International Studies found that Russian forces were advancing at a rate of between 15 and 70 metres per day in their main offensives, describing it as the slowest pace seen for any major army in more than a century of warfare.
At the same time, security concerns extended beyond the battlefield. British authorities confirmed they were monitoring a Russian cargo ship that had anchored near undersea data cables in the Bristol Channel.
The vessel, Sinegorsk, remained stationary for several hours near critical trans-Atlantic telecommunications infrastructure, raising concerns over Russia’s so-called “shadow fleet”.
As diplomatic manoeuvres continued, analysts warned that Trump’s approach carried significant risks.
While the temporary pause in attacks could ease civilian suffering during extreme weather, critics argued that Moscow could use the reprieve to regroup militarily while pressing Kyiv to make territorial concessions.
Zelensky has repeatedly insisted that Ukraine would not agree to any settlement that involved surrendering occupied territories without meaningful security guarantees. “Peace cannot be built on ultimatums,” he has said in previous remarks.
For now, the Ukraine Russia ceasefire remains limited in scope and fragile in execution, with no written agreement and competing interpretations from Kyiv, Moscow and Washington.
As winter tightens its grip and negotiations resume, the coming days are expected to test whether diplomatic efforts can translate into sustained relief for civilians and a credible path toward ending Europe’s most destructive conflict since the Second World War.
