US President Donald Trump says Russian President Vladimir Putin has agreed to a one-week pause in the war in Ukraine.
“Because of the cold, extreme cold … I personally asked President Putin not to fire on Kiev and cities and towns,” Trump said, adding that Putin had agreed to the pause.
“It was very nice,” Trump added.
“Because on top of everything else, what they need is not missiles coming into their cities [when it is this cold]”, said Trump.
“I thought it was a very good thing. Ukraine almost didn’t believe it and they were very happy to hear it because they are fighting so badly,” Potus added.
What is a cold snap?
A cold snap refers to the cold front currently hitting Ukraine and Russia. According to local reports, Ukraine is facing a severe cold front which has dropped to minus 27 degrees Celsius.
The State Emergency Service has warned of a sharp drop in air temperatures for February. According to the Ukrainian Hydrometeorological Center, temperatures are expected to drop to minus 20-27 degrees Celsius overnight in most regions on February 1-3.
Local news reported that temperatures in Kyiv, Chernihiv, Zhytomyr, Rivne, Sumy, Poltava and Kharkiv regions as well as Kyiv are expected to reach minus 20-25 degrees Celsius, with daytime temperatures of minus 15-22 degrees Celsius.
Meanwhile, in Russia, temperatures in the Far East continued to fall as a winter blast across Asia last week brought the heaviest snowfall in 60 years.
According to a Reuters report, scientists say the weather is related to a wave of cold air coming from the Arctic, which is simultaneously affecting eastern Russia and Asia, and the second is affecting eastern Europe.
