Ukraine will reciprocate if Russia halts attacks on energy sectors: Zelensky

Amid escalating Ukraine-Russia tensions and ongoing peace talks, Zelenskyy countered Moscow's invitation for him to visit by daring Putin to come to Kyiv, while offering reciprocity if Russia halts energy infrastructure attacks.

Hours after the Kremlin extended an invitation to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Thursday to come to Moscow for direct peace talks.

The Ukrainian president has dared Russian President Putin to visit Kyiv, adding that Ukraine stands ready to reciprocate if Russia stops attacking its energy infrastructure, which has left Kyiv gripped by cold, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Friday. He added that no formal truce exists between the two nations.

The developments come after U.S President Donald Trump announced Thursday that Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to pause strikes on Kyiv for a week amid brutal cold.

Temperatures in the Ukrainian capital are forecast to drop to -26 °C by Sunday, while the country battles the worst cold.

According to a report by Reuters, Zelenskiy said the U.S proposed de-escalating the conflict during trilateral peace talks in Abu Dhabi last weekend. He noted that the follow-up round, set for Sunday in the UAE, could shift in date or location amid the escalating US-Iran tensions.

"The Americans want both sides to refrain from long-range strikes to open space for diplomacy," Zelenskiy told reporters in Kyiv on Friday, per his office. "This is a U.S initiative led by the President; we see it as an opportunity, not a done deal."

Ukraine's Air Force reported Friday that Russia fired a ballistic missile and 111 drones overnight, targeting various regions. Frontline areas saw airstrikes, but no energy infrastructure hits were noted, according to Reuters.

An energy sector truce, if enacted, would arrive at a pivotal time, weeks before the war's fourth anniversary. Russian forces press their slow advance in eastern Donetsk, while launching near-daily drone barrages on distant Ukrainian cities.

Since last autumn, Moscow has ramped up power grid attacks, leaving Kyiv in darkness and bitter cold during one of the decade's toughest winters.

While the US mediated Peace tlaks continue, efforts to end the war have yielded no concrete results so far. Zelenskiy noted that key territorial disputes, Donetsk and Europe's largest nuclear plant in Zaporizhzhia, remain unresolved.

U.S Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Wednesday that President Donald Trump's key envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, who joined the prior round, would skip the upcoming Abu Dhabi talks. Zelenskiy stressed the need for the same team at the next session to track progress on prior discussions.