Volodymyr Zelensky has suggested that trilateral talks due to take place on Sunday will be delayed until next week as Donald Trump focuses on the “situation with Iran”.
In his nightly video address on Saturday, the Ukrainian President said he was waiting for more information from the US, which is brokering the negotiations, on where and when the talks would next take place.
He had previously suggested that Sunday’s anticipated meeting between Ukraine, Russia and the US could be delayed due to the ongoing tensions between the US and Iran.
"We are in constant communication with the American side and are expecting specific details from them regarding further meetings,” he said. "We are counting on meetings next week and are preparing for them."
The three sides last met a week ago, and Zelensky said Kyiv was still “ready to work in all formats” to secure an elusive peace deal.
On Saturday, US special envoy Steve Witkoff held “productive and constructive” talks with Kremlin envoy Kirill Dmitriev in Florida.
Mr Witkoff said the territorial issue of Donbas remained key in making progress in the negotiations, with Kyiv refusing Moscow’s demand to relinquish the region.
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Key Points
- Zelensky casts doubt over timing of UAE peace talks
- Trump says Putin agreed to not fire on Kyiv for a week during cold - watch
- Ukraine working with SpaceX to stop Russian drones using Starlink, says Kyiv
- Temperatures in Ukraine to hit -30C as crops risk damage
- Putin's troops moving at slowest pace seen for any army in more than 100 years of warfare
- Peace negotiations postponed as Ukraine 'counts on meetings next week'
Where have talks been left?
08:00 , James ReynoldsUkraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky said on Saturday that Ukraine was waiting for more information from the US about future peace talks.
The last talks with Russia and the US took place last week. Zelensky indicated he expects the next round to happen next week, pushing back Sunday’s anticipated summit.
Separately, a delegation of US officials had “productive” meetings with Russian special envoy Kirill Dmitriev in Florida on Saturday, according to US special envoy Steve Witkoff.
Witkoff singled out the question of territory as the key to making progress in the negotiations, with Kyiv rejecting Moscow's demand that it cede all of the Donbas region, including areas its army has not captured.
Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov said this week that land was not the sole key issue under discussion, but did not identify other unresolved issues.
Additionally, Russia agreed to a request from Donald Trump to halt airstrikes on Kyiv until February 1 amid harsh winter temperatures, and Ukraine said it was ready to reciprocate as Washington pushes for a diplomatic solution to end the war.
Poland closes airspace after Belarusian balloon incursion
07:50 , Vishwam SankaranPoland closed its airspace along its eastern border after its military radar detected objects entering from Belarus for the second time within 72 hours.
The mysterious objects are suspected to be smuggling balloons.
"This incident represents another in a series of hybrid-type events observed in the eastern region of Poland," the Polish Operational Command said in a statement.
In recent times, Europe has been increasingly dealing with airspace alerts involving drones or unidentified objects.
This has prompted several European cities, including Brussels and Munich, to temporarily shut down their airspace.
Kyiv metro suspended and water supplies cut
07:15 , Adam WithnallThe metro in Kyiv suspended operations and water supplies in the city were cut temporarily.
The state emergency service said its teams led 500 stranded passengers out of metro stations. Some passengers were seen waiting at a station with dimmed lights in anticipation of electricity being restored.
Traffic lights and some public transport in Chisinau were not working, according to the city's mayor, and most districts did not have electricity.
The accident caused a shutdown on Ukraine's side, triggering automatic protection at substations and the temporary disconnection of nuclear power plant units from the grid, Ukrainian energy minister Denys Shmyhal said.
Nearly 3,500 apartment buildings in Kyiv without power
06:31 , Adam WithnallZelensky said nearly 3,500 apartment buildings lack heating in the capital.
"The city and utilities and energy experts are promising to fix the heating situation by tomorrow morning," he said. "But the pace should be faster."
Russia agreed to halt strikes on energy infrastructure until Sunday at the request of US president Donald Trump. Kyiv said it would reciprocate, and the countries did not report major attacks.
Regions in both Ukraine and Moldova were affected after the malfunction at 10.42am Kyiv time. Officials in both countries said power was restored later in the day following efforts to stabilise interconnected grids.
Officials in Moldova said it took 3 and a half hours for power supplies to return to normal in the country lying between Ukraine and Romania.
Grid outages 'led to cascade of shutdowns'
05:55 , Adam WithnallUkrainian energy minister Denys Shmyhal said the two line outages between Ukraine and Romania and Moldova respectively occurred within a minute of each other, "leading to a cascade of shutdowns in seven regions of the country."
Moldova's energy ministry said the disruption there was triggered by problems in Ukraine's grid that led to a voltage drop on the line connecting Romania and Moldova.
Reuters said Romania's energy ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The system is under greater pressure as forecast night-time temperatures of -13 degrees Celsius (9 Fahrenheit) in Kyiv are due to sink to -22 C on Monday.
Ukraine and Moldova hit by blackouts from grid malfunction
05:21 , Adam WithnallParts of Ukraine and Moldova, including the neighbouring countries' capitals, were plunged into blackouts on Saturday caused by a malfunction of high-voltage power lines, officials said. Power was restored later in the day.
Officials did not directly link the accident to war damage, although Ukraine's power grid has suffered from the accumulated impact of Russian airstrikes, leading to severe restrictions on electricity supplies in recent weeks.
President Volodymyr Zelensky blamed ice buildup on power lines and ruled out a cyberattack.
"In the morning, a technological accident occurred on the power grid: two lines between Romania and Moldova and within the territory of Ukraine stopped operating," he said in his nightly video address. "The causes are being thoroughly investigated."
He said Ukraine had increased power imports to meet demand.
Analysis: Why Iran is the wrong war for Trump to back
04:01 , Harriette BoucherChaotic, unprincipled and dangerously effective, Donald Trump’s latest foreign policy move in Ukraine may provide a brief respite from Russian bombing in plunging temperatures that have left civilians freezing in their homes.
The danger lies in what he expects to get in return for securing a week-long agreement from Vladimir Putin to hold off on tormenting Ukraine. The concession he will, no doubt, demand is that Kyiv give in to the Kremlin’s demands to hand over his most potent defensive lines and fortress cities without a shot being fired in return for a longer “ceasefire”.
Trump has been backing the wrong side in Ukraine, and may soon launch a war in Iran that he cannot control.
US negotiators have been trying to get Volodymyr Zelensky to agree to cede all of Donetsk and most of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson provinces as a reward for Russia’s bloody invasion that has, by many estimates, cost the country 1.2 million casualties.
The US administration has cut all military aid for Ukraine and allows only an intelligence feed to Kyiv’s forces, leaving its energy system so vulnerable to air attacks by Russia that most Ukrainians have no power in their homes.
World affairs editor Sam Kiley writes:
Why Iran is the wrong war for Trump to back
Watch: NATO warns Ukraine faces 'harshest winter' as Russia targets energy grid
03:15 , Harriette BoucherTrump envoy showed ‘troubling lack of knowledge at Ukraine peace talks and could not say when war began’
02:10 , Harriette BoucherOne of Donald Trump’s senior envoys for Ukraine has sparked alarm after making a series of blunders during crucial peace talks, according to a report.
The unnamed official is alleged to have made several comments that exposed a basic lack of knowledge about the war between Ukraine and Russia during trilateral peace talks in Abu Dhabi last week.
The talks, set to continue this weekend, are the first between the three countries since Russia’s full-scale invasion began in February 2022 – but the comments in the Kyiv Independent have led to fears that inexperience and misunderstanding could pose a risk to Kyiv.
The Independent’s Maira Butt reports:
Trump envoy showed ‘troubling lack of knowledge at Ukraine peace talks
Witkoff reports 'productive and constructive' Ukraine talks with Russia
01:15 , Harriette BoucherUS special envoy Steve Witkoff said he held “productive and constructive meetings” with Russian special envoy Kirill Dmitriev in Florida on Saturday as peace talks set for Sunday have been postponed until next week.
In a post on social media, Mr Witkoff said: “Today in Florida, the Russian Special Envoy Kirill Dmitriev held productive and constructive meetings as part of the U.S. mediation effort toward advancing a peaceful resolution of the Ukrainian conflict.
“We are encouraged by this meeting that Russia is working toward securing peace in Ukraine and is grateful for @POTUS’s critical leadership in seeking a durable and lasting peace.”
Ukraine to receive two lorries worth of spuds in Berlin potato dump
00:20 , Harriette BoucherUkraine is receiving two lorries worth of potatoes after Berlin experienced a bumper harvest year with its biggest crop in more than two decades.
The phenomenon has inspired a potato dump in Berlin, as farmers, not wanting their produce to go to waste, have given away their potatoes away to soup kitchens, schools, churches, and the public.
Two lorries worth of spuds have also been delivered to Ukraine.
It comes as the country experiences a brutal winter, with temperatures in some areas dropping to -30C.
Russia has been repeatedly targeting Ukraine’s energy grid, leaving thousands of Ukrainians without power or food.
Mapped: Battlefield situation as of Friday
Saturday 31 January 2026 23:15 , Harriette BoucherThe British Ministry of Defence shared its latest Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine on Friday:
Watch: Trump says Putin agreed to not fire on Kyiv for a week during cold
Saturday 31 January 2026 22:15 , Harriette BoucherUkrainians without power forced to queue up for hot meals
Saturday 31 January 2026 21:15 , Sam Rkaina Ukraine investigating cause of outages
Saturday 31 January 2026 20:33 , Harriette BoucherUkraine is investigating a “technical incident” on its energy grid after two lines between Romania and Moldova, as well as lines in Ukraine, stopped operating.
“As of now, there is no confirmation of external interference or a cyberattack,” Volodymyr Zelensky said.
“Most indications point to weather: ice buildup on the lines and automatic shutdowns.”
Earlier, Ukraine's energy minister Denys Shmyhal blamed a technical malfunction for the outages.
Donald Trump said on Thursday that Vladimir Putin had agreed to a brief ceasefire on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, which would protect the country from a time of “extraordinarily cold” weather.
The Kremlin said the ceasefire would end on Sunday.
War death toll set to hit grim milestone
Saturday 31 January 2026 20:15 , Sam RkainaThe number of soldiers killed, injured or missing on both sides of Russia's war on Ukraine could hit two million by the spring, a report has warned.
It would mean Moscow suffering the largest number of troop deaths recorded for any major power in any conflict since the Second World War.
The study by the Centre for Strategic and International Studies revealed the slow, deadly grind of the conflict, and comes before the fourth anniversary of Putin full-scale invasion of Ukraine on 24 February.
The report said Russia suffered 1.2 million casualties, including up to 325,000 troop deaths, between February 2022 and December 2025.
“No major power has suffered anywhere near these numbers of casualties or fatalities in any war since World War II,” the authors said.
It estimated that Ukraine, with its smaller army and population, had suffered between 500,000 to 600,000 military casualties, including up to 140,000 deaths.
Ukraine facing bitter winter with -30C temperatures
Saturday 31 January 2026 19:15 , Sam RkainaKyiv is forecast to enter a brutally cold stretch starting that is expected to last into next week.
Temperatures in some areas will drop to -30C, the State Emergency Service said.
Russia has sought to deny Ukrainian civilians heat, light and running water over the course of the war, in a strategy that Ukrainian officials describe as “weaponizing winter.”
The possibility of a respite in energy sector attacks was discussed at last weekend’s meeting in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, between envoys of Ukraine, Russia and the United States, Zelenskyy said.
Zelenskyy said that he had agreed to adhere to a “reciprocal approach” on energy assaults.
“If Russia does not strike us, we will … take corresponding steps,” he told reporters.
Peace negotiations postponed as Ukraine 'counts on meetings next week'
Saturday 31 January 2026 18:54 , Harriette BoucherVolodymyr Zelensky has suggested that three-way peace talks set to take place in the UAE tomorrow will now take place next week.
In his nightly video address, President Zelensky said he was waiting for more information from the US about further peace talks and expected new meetings to take place next week.
"We are in constant communication with the American side and are expecting specific details from them regarding further meetings.
"We are counting on meetings next week and are preparing for them."
Ukraine’s president has said earlier that talks could be delayed due to the ongoing tensions between the US and Iran.
Analysis: Trump is backing the wrong war
Saturday 31 January 2026 18:19 , Sam RkainaWorld affairs editor Sam Kiley writes: Chaotic, unprincipled and dangerously effective, Donald Trump’s latest foreign policy move in Ukraine may provide a brief respite from Russian bombing in plunging temperatures that have left civilians freezing in their homes.
The danger lies in what he expects to get in return for securing a week-long agreement from Vladimir Putin to hold off on tormenting Ukraine.
The concession he will, no doubt, demand is that Kyiv give in to the Kremlin’s demands to hand over his most potent defensive lines and fortress cities without a shot being fired in return for a longer “ceasefire”.
Trump has been backing the wrong side in Ukraine, and may soon launch a war in Iran that he cannot control.
US negotiators have been trying to get Volodymyr Zelensky to agree to cede all of Donetsk and most of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson provinces as a reward for Russia’s bloody invasion that has, by many estimates, cost the country 1.2 million casualties.
Click here for the full story.
Saturday 31 January 2026 17:15 , Sam Rkaina The power outages come amid mounting concerns among US and European officials over hundreds of millions of dollars in American energy assistance for Ukraine that remain unreleased.
The aid was originally intended to help Ukraine import liquefied natural gas and rebuild infrastructure damaged by Russian strikes, say sources including a US and a Ukrainian official.
The US Agency for International Development (USAID) had notified Congress during the Biden administration of its intention to disburse some funds.
Yet, after USAID was effectively shuttered in the initial weeks of the Trump administration, some money fell into what sources described as "bureaucratic limbo."
Technical malfunction blamed for outages
Saturday 31 January 2026 16:45 , Sam RkainaUkraine's Energy Minister Denys Shmyhal blamed a technical malfunction that caused simultaneous outages on two high-voltage power lines, one linking the grids of Romania and Moldova and another connecting western and central Ukraine.
Moldova's energy ministry said the disruption there was triggered by serious problems in Ukraine's grid that led to a voltage drop on the line connecting Romania and Moldova.
Romania's energy ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The accident caused a shutdown on Ukraine's side, triggered automatic protection at substations and the temporary disconnection of nuclear power plant units from the grid, Shmyhal said.
Power partially restored in both countries
Saturday 31 January 2026 16:08 , Sam RkainaThe metro in Kyiv suspended operations and water supplies in the city were cut.
Traffic lights and some public transport in Chisinau were not working, according to the city mayor, and most districts did not have electricity.
At a metro station in Kyiv with dimmed lights, some passengers were waiting, hopeful of resuming their journeys.
Officials in both countries reported that power was partially restored in the early afternoon following rushed efforts to stabilise interconnected grids.
"By evening, we will be back to where we were before the accident," Oleksandr Kharchenko, director of the independent Energy Research Centre in Kyiv, told Reuters.
Ukraine and Moldova hit by blackouts from grid malfunction
Saturday 31 January 2026 15:28 , Sam RkainaParts of Ukraine and Moldova, including the capitals of both neighbouring countries, were plunged into blackouts on Saturday caused by malfunction of high-voltage power lines, officials said.
Officials did not directly link the accident to war damage, although Ukraine's power grid has suffered from the accumulated impact of Russian air strikes leading to severe restrictions on electricity supplies in recent weeks.
Ukraine's digital ministry also said a cyberattack was not to blame.
The system is under greater pressure as a cold spell returns this weekend.
At least five Ukrainian regions and some parts of Moldova were affected by the blackouts, as well as capitals Kyiv and Chisinau, after the malfunction at 10:42 a.m. Kyiv time.
Putin envoy heads for talks with US delegation
Saturday 31 January 2026 14:30 , Sam RkainaRussian President Vladimir Putin's special envoy Kirill Dmitriev headed for meetings with members of a U.S. delegation in Miami at 8am local time, a source with knowledge of the visit told Reuters.
This weekend’s talks are due to be held between Kyiv, Moscow and Washington following similar discussions last weekend.
Ukrainian president Zelensky had suggested the talks on Sunday could be delayed, however, due to ongoing tensions between the US and Iran.
Mapped: Battlefield situation as of Friday
Saturday 31 January 2026 14:00 , James ReynoldsThe British Ministry of Defence shared its latest Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine on Friday:
Russia claims two more villages in Ukraine
Saturday 31 January 2026 13:30 , James ReynoldsRussia’s defence ministry said today that forces had captured the villages of Petrivka and Toretske.
Petrivka is in Ukraine's southeastern Zaporizhzhia region. Toretske is in the eastern Donetsk region.
It was not possible to immediately verify the claims.
Chernobyl power station knocked offline
Saturday 31 January 2026 12:53 , James ReynoldsThe Ukrainian power station at Chernobyl briefly lost all off site power, the UN’s atomic watchdog reported on Saturday.
Ukraine is working to stabilise the grid and restore output, they said, adding that there no direct impact on nuclear safety was expected.
Although no longer a working power station, the plant still requires constant management.
Parts of Ukraine and Moldova, including the capitals of both neighbouring countries, were plunged into blackouts on Saturday caused by malfunctions to high-voltage power lines, officials said.
'Millions for Ukraine held in USAID limbo', officials claim
Saturday 31 January 2026 12:30 , James ReynoldsUS and European officials are concerned that millions of dollars set aside for energy assistance for Ukraine have not been released at a time when Russia is scaling up attacks on energy infrastructure.
Several sources, including a US official and a Ukrainian official, told Reuters that the US Agency for International Development (USAID) had been expected to release the funds before Donald Trump effectively shuttered the agency last year.
Some of the funds fell into what sources called a bureaucratic limbo. It was unclear how much was held up. The previous Biden administration pledged significant funding for Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, including $824m in mid-2024, for instance.
Zelensky rejects Putin's offer to come to Moscow
Saturday 31 January 2026 12:00 , James ReynoldsVolodymyr Zelensky rejected Russia’s offer to travel to Moscow on Friday, while signalling he was open to meet with Vladimir Putin in a more appropriate format.
“I can just as well invite him to Kyiv, let him come. I'm openly inviting him, if he dares,” Zelensky told reporters.
He added: “We are serious about the need to end the war. Any real format for a meeting of leaders is suitable.”
The two leaders have not met since 2019, before the start of the full-scale war.
Ukrainian power knocked out by line disruptions
Saturday 31 January 2026 11:33 , James ReynoldsTechnical disruptions on two power lines connecting Ukraine, Moldova and Romania knocked out power across the Ukrainian grid on Saturday, the country's energy minister said.
At least three regions and the capital of Kyiv were experiencing emergency power cuts, Denys Shmуhal added on the Telegram app.
He expects the power supply to be restored in the coming hours.
In pictures: Kyiv residents wait for free hot meals amid power and heating outages
Saturday 31 January 2026 11:30 , James Reynolds Watch: Trump says Putin agreed to not fire on Kyiv for a week during cold
Saturday 31 January 2026 11:00 , James ReynoldsRussia said on Friday that Putin had agreed to stop striking Kyiv for a week - ending on Sunday.
Recap: Both sides avoid strikes on energy infrastructure, Zelensky says
Saturday 31 January 2026 10:30 , James ReynoldsUkraine’s Zelensky said on Friday that neither Kyiv nor Russia had struck energy targets in the wake of a new agreement initiated by the US for Russia to refrain from such attacks.
"In all our regions, there were indeed no strikes on energy facilities from Thursday night to Friday," Zelenskiy said in his nightly video address.
"Ukraine is ready in reciprocal terms to refrain from strikes and today we did not strike at Russian energy facilities."
He said Russia was engaged in a "reorientation" of its military activity by attacking logistics, like rail junctions.
What to expect this weekend
Saturday 31 January 2026 10:00 , James ReynoldsRussia’s special envoy Kirill Dmitriev is expected in Miami today for meetings with members of the Trump administration, two sources said yesterday.
A trilateral meeting between Russian, Ukrainian and US negotiators was scheduled for Sunday in the UAE, but Zelensky said on Friday the date or location may change.
Marco Rubio said earlier in the week that Trump's top envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner would not participate in the scheduled meeting this weekend.
Ukraine is bracing for a new cold spell from Sunday with millions still affected by power outages affecting heating.
The fragile agreement for Russia not to strike energy infrastructure held on Friday. Russia said it would pause attacks on Kyiv until next Sunday to “create favourable conditions” for peace talks.
Top floor residents in Kyiv expected to freeze to death as temperatures plummet to -24C
Saturday 31 January 2026 09:30 , James ReynoldsTemperatures in the Ukrainian capital are expected to fall to around -12F (-24.4C) next week as the country grapples with enduring power outages, leaving millions exposed to the brutal winter cold.
Cuts to heating have left homes as cold as 45F (7C) in Kyiv, with outages exacerbated by continued Russian attacks on power plants and pipelines.
Ukrainian officials told foreign diplomats in Kyiv in recent days that all of the country’s major energy plants have been “damaged or ruined”.
Mykola Murskyj, the director of advocacy at Razom, a non-profit group supporting Ukraine, said of next week's expected cold snap: "They're preparing for the fact that people in the upper (stories) of apartment buildings are going to freeze to death.
"They're preparing to retrieve the bodies. It's extremely grim."
Video: Ukrainian city protects itself from drones using fishing nets
Saturday 31 January 2026 09:00 , Vishwam Sankaran'Millions for Ukraine held in USAID limbo', officials claim
Saturday 31 January 2026 08:30 , James ReynoldsUS and European officials are concerned that millions of dollars set aside for energy assistance for Ukraine have not been released at a time when Russia is scaling up attacks on energy infrastructure.
Several sources, including a US official and a Ukrainian official, told Reuters that the US Agency for International Development (USAID) had been expected to release the funds before Donald Trump effectively shuttered the agency last year.
Some of the funds fell into what sources called a bureaucratic limbo. It was unclear how much was held up. The previous Biden administration pledged significant funding for Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, including $824m in mid-2024, for instance.
Mapped: Battlefield situation as of Friday
Saturday 31 January 2026 08:00 , James ReynoldsThe British Ministry of Defence shared its latest Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine on Friday:
Video: Full scope of weeklong pause in attacks remains unclear
Saturday 31 January 2026 07:30 , Vishwam SankaranVideo: Temperatures in Kyiv could drop as low as -25C
Saturday 31 January 2026 07:00 , Vishwam SankaranIn Pictures: Kyiv residents face sub-zero temperatures amid 'cold snap'
Saturday 31 January 2026 06:30 , Vishwam Sankaran