KYIV — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said late Thursday he couldn’t say whether U.S. President Donald Trump’s proposal of a weeklong truce would work, but cast the initiative as an “opportunity.”

Trump’s proposed ceasefire is an attempt to spare the residents of Ukrainian cities from an onslaught of Russian attacks that have plunged civilians into sub-zero conditions by devastating their power grids and central heating systems.

The U.S. president had said Thursday that he secured an assurance from Russian President Vladimir Putin that Moscow’s forces would not fire on Ukrainian cities during a period of bitter cold.

“This is an initiative of the American side and personally of the president of the United States. We can regard it as an opportunity rather than an agreement. Whether it will work or not, and what exactly will work, I cannot say at this point. There is no ceasefire. There is no official agreement on a ceasefire, as is typically reached during negotiations,” Zelenskyy told reporters Thursday evening.

Zelenskyy said the prospect of such a truce reopened a long-running discussion to de-escalate the war via an agreement that the Kremlin would stop destroying Ukrainian energy infrastructure, and Kyiv would halt attacks on Russian oil depots and refining facilities.

Zelenskyy argued the Russians had not accepted such a deal last year and he sounded skeptical about their sincerity this time.

“At that time, Russia’s responses to such de-escalation steps were negative. We will see how it unfolds now,” he told the reporters.

Damage already done

A truce would come very late, given the scale of damage already wrought by the Russians.

In Kyiv, Russian forces have destroyed an entire power plant in the biggest residential district, depriving almost 500,000 residents of heating and electricity.

The situation is so dire that the European Commission had to send 447 emergency generators worth €3.7 million, with individual countries, such as Germany and Poland, also sending other energy equipment worth millions of euros to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe in Kyiv and other cities.

The Ukrainians have hit back by striking Russian oil refineries and power plants in Belgorod, and some other Russian cities within the range of strike capabilities.

“The Americans said they want to raise the issue of de-escalation, with both sides demonstrating certain steps toward refraining from the use of long-range capabilities to create more space for diplomacy,” Zelenskyy said.  

He added that Kyiv has agreed with the U.S. initiative, as it always agrees to “all American rational ideas.”

“If Russia does not strike our energy infrastructure — generation facilities or any other energy assets — we will not strike theirs. I believe this is the answer the mediator of the negotiations, namely the United States of America, was expecting,” Zelenskyy said.

Whether Russia is really serious about a ceasefire was another question, Zelenskyy cautioned.

New bombardment

Indeed, there was little sign of goodwill from the Russian side on Friday.

The Russian armed forces shelled Ukraine with more than 112 drones and various missiles, the Ukrainian Air Force reported Friday. 

Although Kyiv has not been attacked on Friday, and no strikes on energy facilities were reported, the eastern region of Kharkiv was heavily shelled. Two people there were wounded, and one person was killed, the governor, Oleh Synegubov, said in a Telegram statement. Civilian infrastructure was hit and power cables were damaged by the attacks. The air force also reported Russian drones in Sumy, Dnipro and Chernihiv regions, as the attacks continued.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov also sounded skeptical about a ceasefire on Thursday.

“We have spoken many times. President Vladimir Putin has often reminded us that a truce, which is again being sought by Volodymyr Zelenskyy, at least for 60 days, and preferably longer, is unacceptable for us,” he told Turkish media.

Lavrov claimed all the previous periods in which Russia has slowed its offensives were used by the West “to pump Ukraine with weapons, and restore the strength of its army.”