Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia used de-escalation steps proposed by the United States as a tactical pause to stockpile missiles and drones before launching a large-scale strike against Ukraine during the coldest days of winter.
According to a Telegram post on Tuesday, Feb. 3, Zelensky said that following talks in Abu Dhabi, the American side proposed refraining from strikes on energy infrastructure and raised the issue of protecting other critical facilities as well.
He added that Russia formally adhered only to part of the proposal. While strikes on energy facilities were halted, creating the impression that the agreement was holding, attacks on railways and other infrastructure continued.
“The Americans thought this would work for a week,” Zelensky said.
Stockpiling missiles for a winter strike
The Ukrainian president said that the pause was not used to reduce tensions but to prepare a larger-scale attack.
Russia overnight on Tuesday unleashed more than 450 drones and around 70 missiles on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities, injuring at least 9 people and cutting power to thousands of buildings as temperatures dropped below -20°C (-4°F). According to Ukraine’s Air Force, air defense neutralized 450 targets, including 38 missiles and 412 drones of various types.
“If you look at the strike package Russia intended to use immediately after the previous talks in Abu Dhabi ended, it was significantly smaller at that time,” Zelensky said.
“They postponed the strike, increased the number of missiles and drones, and struck during the coldest days,” he added.
According to Zelensky, the actual strike package was about one and a half times larger than what Russia could have deployed earlier. As a result, he said, there is no basis to speak of any “gifts” or genuine de-escalation.
Talks delayed, de-escalation halted
Zelensky described the US proposal as logical and politically sound, aimed at showing both the world and domestic audiences that the sides were capable of reducing the intensity of the war.
He said the de-escalation was intended to continue until the next meeting, after which broader discussions on ending the war could begin.
However, the next round of talks was postponed to Wednesday-Thursday for reasons unrelated to Ukraine, and, in Kyiv’s view, the de-escalation was never resumed.
Trump “unsurprised” by renewed Russian strikes
US President Donald Trump was “unsurprised” to learn that Russia had resumed heavy attacks on Ukraine just hours after he boasted about brokering an energy ceasefire with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the White House said on Tuesday.
“I spoke with the president about it this morning, and his reaction was, unfortunately, unsurprised,” Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters outside the West Wing.
Trump initially announced the truce last Thursday, saying he had personally appealed to Putin to halt strikes on Kyiv and “various towns” for a week due to exceptionally cold weather.
“He agreed to do that. And I have to tell you it was very nice,” Trump told reporters.
However, on Friday, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov clarified that the ceasefire would only hold until Sunday, just as temperatures were set to plummet once again. Ukraine has said the ceasefire should have continued until this Friday.
