{"id":3787,"date":"2026-01-31T23:25:18","date_gmt":"2026-01-31T23:25:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/firearmupgrades.com\/?p=3787"},"modified":"2026-01-31T23:25:18","modified_gmt":"2026-01-31T23:25:18","slug":"russia-halts-attacks-on-kyiv-but-continues-to-target-ukraines-energy-infrastructure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/firearmupgrades.com\/?p=3787","title":{"rendered":"Russia Halts Attacks on Kyiv but Continues to Target Ukraine&#8217;s Energy Infrastructure"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<br \/><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Welcome back to World Brief, where we\u2019re looking at <strong>Russian<\/strong> attacks on <strong>Ukrainian<\/strong> energy infrastructure, <strong>Syria<\/strong>\u2019s historic peace deal, and the next chair of the <strong>U.S. Federal Reserve<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<h3><strong>Kyiv\u2019s Brief Reprieve<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Moscow <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/world\/europe\/kremlin-says-trump-asked-putin-halt-strikes-kyiv-until-february-1-2026-01-30\/?utm_source=Sailthru&amp;utm_medium=Newsletter&amp;utm_campaign=Daily-Briefing&amp;utm_term=013026&amp;lctg=607f1056abd4f461f466319b\">confirmed<\/a> on Friday that Russian President Vladimir Putin has agreed to halt strikes on Kyiv until Feb. 1. According to Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, the limited truce comes at the personal request of U.S. President Donald Trump and is aimed at creating \u201cfavorable conditions for negotiations\u201d ahead of trilateral talks in Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates, on Sunday.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div data-nosnippet=\"\">\n<p>Welcome back to World Brief, where we\u2019re looking at <strong>Russian<\/strong> attacks on <strong>Ukrainian<\/strong> energy infrastructure, <strong>Syria<\/strong>\u2019s historic peace deal, and the next chair of the <strong>U.S. Federal Reserve<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<div class=\"newsletter-unit-signup--shortcode-fallback\">\n<h2 class=\"dek-heading\">\n                <\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/category\/world-brief\/\">Sign up<\/a>  to receive World Brief in your inbox every weekday.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<form data-shortcode-newsletter=\"world_brief\" class=\"newsletter-unit-signup newsletter-unit-signup--shortcode email-capture--step-1 newsletter-unit-signup--shortcode-world_brief\">\n<div class=\"newsletter-world_brief newsletter-shortcode-world_brief\">\n<div class=\"show-on-email-capture--signed-up hide-from-newsletter-subscriber newsletter-unit-signup--shortcode--container\">\n<div class=\"newsletter-unit newsletter-row\">\n<div class=\"newsletter-world_brief\">\n<h2 class=\"dek-heading\">Sign up to receive World Brief in your inbox every weekday.<\/h2>\n<p>\n                        <button class=\"button\">Sign Up<\/button>\n                    <\/p>\n<div class=\"grid--flex newsletter-world_brief newsletter-signup-container\" role=\"group\" aria-label=\"World Brief sign up form\" tabindex=\"0\">\n<div class=\"buttons\">\n<div class=\"hide-from-newsletter-subscriber privacy-policy-container\">\n<div class=\"privacy-policy-acknowledge\">\n<p><small>By submitting your email, you agree to the <a href=\"https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/privacy\/\" target=\"_blank\">Privacy Policy<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/termsofuse\/\" target=\"_blank\">Terms of Use<\/a> and to receive email correspondence from us. You may opt out at any time.<\/small><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>\n    <label for=\"email-world_brief\">Enter your email<\/label><br \/>\n    <input type=\"email\" name=\"email\" class=\"hide-from-reg hide-from-sub\" id=\"email-world_brief\" aria-required=\"true\" required=\"\"\/><\/p>\n<p>    <button class=\"button button--signup \" data-newsletter-id=\"world_brief\" data-sourceid=\"In-article unit\" type=\"submit\"><br \/>\n      <span class=\"sign-up-text\">Sign Up<\/span><br \/>\n      <span class=\"loading-text\">Loading&#8230;<\/span><br \/>\n    <\/button>\n  <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/form>\n<hr\/>\n<h3><strong>Kyiv\u2019s Brief Reprieve<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Moscow <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/world\/europe\/kremlin-says-trump-asked-putin-halt-strikes-kyiv-until-february-1-2026-01-30\/?utm_source=Sailthru&amp;utm_medium=Newsletter&amp;utm_campaign=Daily-Briefing&amp;utm_term=013026&amp;lctg=607f1056abd4f461f466319b\">confirmed<\/a> on Friday that Russian President Vladimir Putin has agreed to halt strikes on Kyiv until Feb. 1. According to Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, the limited truce comes at the personal request of U.S. President Donald Trump and is aimed at creating \u201cfavorable conditions for negotiations\u201d ahead of trilateral talks in Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates, on Sunday.<\/p>\n<p>During a cabinet meeting on Thursday, Trump announced that he had asked Putin \u201cnot to fire into Kyiv and the various towns for a week, and he agreed to do that,\u201d adding that his ask was in response to \u201cextreme cold\u201d in the region. Peskov, however, did not mention the weather as a factor.<\/p>\n<p>Russian forces have repeatedly targeted Ukraine\u2019s energy infrastructure in an effort to <a href=\"https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/2025\/10\/29\/russia-ukraine-energy-attacks-winter-cold\/\">freeze the country<\/a> into submission. This month, Russian strikes on Kyiv and other major cities have caused <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/russia-ukraine-war-trump-putin-pause-bombing-cities-for-week-reaction\/\">massive power cuts<\/a> across 80 percent of the country. In the capital alone, 15 percent of residential buildings were without heat this week, according to Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko. Forecasters expect below-freezing conditions to continue throughout the region.<\/p>\n<p>As of Friday evening, local time, though, Russia\u2019s brief pause in strikes on Kyiv appeared to be holding. Earlier in the day, Ukraine\u2019s Air Force <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/world\/russia\/trump-putin-russia-ceasefire-ukraine-kyiv-cold-peace-talks-zelenskyy-rcna256682\">accused<\/a> Moscow of launching more than 100 drones at 15 locations, killing and wounding several people. However, it confirmed that the capital had not been targeted.<\/p>\n<p>Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has offered to halt strikes on Russia if Moscow stops targeting the country\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/2025\/12\/11\/ukraine-blackout-energy-russia-deterrent\/\">energy infrastructure<\/a>. Yet, such a reprieve appears unlikely; the Russian Defense Ministry said on Friday that it had struck military sites inside Ukraine, including energy facilities allegedly used to support the military.<\/p>\n<p>Sunday\u2019s trilateral talks between the United States, Russia, and Ukraine are expected to address the attacks as well as <a href=\"https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/2026\/01\/26\/ukraine-russia-donetsk-land-swap-peace-talks-kosovo\/\">other sticking points<\/a> in the negotiations to secure a cease-fire deal. These include Moscow\u2019s demand that Ukraine withdraw from roughly one-fifth of its occupied Donetsk region and the Kremlin\u2019s rejection of international peacekeepers being deployed to Ukraine after the war.<\/p>\n<p>The upcoming talks will be the second round of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/world\/ukraine\/russia-ukraine-triateral-peace-talks-trump-envoy-putin-kremlin-rcna255546\">trilateral negotiations<\/a> this month. However, on Friday, Zelensky inserted a level of uncertainty to the event, saying that the date or location could change due to the \u201csituation between the United States and Iran\u201d\u2014a reference to Trump\u2019s threats of U.S. military action against Tehran.<\/p>\n<p>Even if the talks go through, however, they will not include Putin, Zelensky, or Trump. On Thursday, the Kremlin said that it had invited Zelensky to Moscow for direct dialogue. But the Ukrainian leader <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2026\/1\/30\/ukrainian-president-zelenskyy-invites-putin-to-kyiv-for-talks\">rejected<\/a> the invitation, refusing to travel to Russia or its close ally Belarus. \u201cIt\u2019s the same as meeting with Putin in Kyiv,\u201d Zelensky said. \u201cI can also invite him to Kyiv. Let him come. I publicly invite him, if he dares, of course.\u201d<\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<h3><strong>Today\u2019s Most Read<\/strong><\/h3>\n<hr\/>\n<h3><strong>What We\u2019re Following<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><strong>A historic peace agreement. <\/strong>The Syrian government and Kurdish forces <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/world\/middle-east\/syrian-kurdish-led-sdf-agree-ceasefire-phased-integration-deal-with-government-2026-01-30\/?utm_source=Sailthru&amp;utm_medium=Newsletter&amp;utm_campaign=Daily-Briefing&amp;utm_term=013026&amp;lctg=607f1056abd4f461f466319b\">reached a deal<\/a> on Friday to extend their fragile cease-fire into a permanent truce. Under the agreement, state troops and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) will pull back from the front lines to allow government security forces to enter the northeast cities of Hasakah and Qamishli. As part of a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2026\/jan\/30\/syria-government-kurdish-forces-truce-agreement\">phased effort<\/a>, SDF fighters will also integrate into the Syrian army; a new military division will be created, which will include multiple SDF brigades; and several Kurdish-led governing bodies will be merged with state institutions.<\/p>\n<p>The fate of the SDF has been among the biggest challenges for Syrian President <a href=\"https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/2025\/06\/08\/syria-political-transition-assad-fall-civil-war\/\">Ahmed al-Sharaa<\/a> following the ousting of dictator Bashar al-Assad. Damascus and the SDF first struck a deal last March, but fighting <a href=\"https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/2026\/01\/28\/rojava-turkey-syria-kurds-erdogan-sharaa\/\">continued to embroil<\/a> the country, as the SDF fought for continued control of Kurdish-majority cities in the northeast.<\/p>\n<p>Now, negotiators hope that Friday\u2019s agreement will finally end the bloody conflict. \u201cBoth sides have taken courageous steps,\u201d U.S. special envoy Tom Barrack <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/USAMBTurkiye\/status\/2017172026805321842\">wrote<\/a> on X. \u201c[T]he Syrian government in extending meaningful inclusion and rights, and the Kurdish communities in embracing a unified framework that honors their contributions while advancing the common good.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>New Fed pick. <\/strong>Trump on Friday tapped Kevin Warsh, a former member of the U.S. Federal Reserve\u2019s board of governors, to be the next chair of the central bank. \u201cI have known Kevin for a long period of time, and have no doubt that he will go down as one of the GREAT Fed Chairmen, maybe the best,\u201d the U.S. president <a href=\"https:\/\/truthsocial.com\/@realDonaldTrump\/posts\/115983891481988557\">wrote<\/a> on Truth Social.<\/p>\n<p>Friday\u2019s announcement concludes a drawn-out search to replace current chair <a href=\"https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/2026\/01\/12\/trump-federal-reserve-chair-jerome-powell-investigation-markets\/\">Jerome Powell<\/a>, whose term ends in May. Powell has faced intense pressure from the Trump administration to cut interest rates more aggressively but has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.federalreserve.gov\/newsevents\/speech\/powell20260111a.htm\">refused to bow<\/a> to such demands. In response, Trump has threatened to fire Powell\u2014despite <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/newshour\/show\/does-the-president-have-legal-authority-to-fire-the-fed-chair\">legal questions<\/a> about his authority to do so\u2014and the U.S. Justice Department has served the Fed with subpoenas and threatened Powell with a criminal indictment.<\/p>\n<p>Warsh must still be confirmed by the Senate. However, Republican Sen. Thom Tillis has <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/SenThomTillis\/status\/2017221633287590355?s=20\">vowed<\/a> to block any nominees for Fed chair until the Justice Department\u2019s investigation of Powell is resolved. Tillis reiterated that pledge on Friday after Warsh\u2019s nomination, though he did note that Warsh \u201cis a qualified nominee with a deep understanding of monetary policy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWarsh is perceived as a Fed chair who may placate Trump in the short term by easing interest rates, but who will maintain more of the central bank\u2019s independence,\u201d FP\u2019s Keith Johnson <a href=\"https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/2026\/01\/30\/kevin-warsh-federal-reserve-chair-trump-powell\/\">writes<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>U.S. intervention in Latin America. <\/strong>Venezuela\u2019s National Assembly approved a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/01\/29\/world\/americas\/venezuela-new-law-oil-foreign-companies.html?campaign_id=9&amp;emc=edit_nn_20260130&amp;instance_id=170340&amp;nl=the-morning&amp;regi_id=159637444&amp;segment_id=214525&amp;user_id=3a92aa035d8e7d51a6ba63375b87c152\">sweeping overhaul<\/a> on Thursday of legislation concerning the country\u2019s oil industry. The new policy grants foreign oil companies greater control over their own operations in the country, effectively relegating the state-run Petr\u00f3leos de Venezuela to secondary status.<\/p>\n<p>Venezuela holds the world\u2019s largest proven oil reserves. However, Trump has used deadly strikes on alleged drug-trafficking boats, a maritime blockade on sanctioned oil vessels, and the capture of Venezuelan President Nicol\u00e1s Maduro to demand <a href=\"https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/2026\/01\/09\/oil-trump-venezuela-maduro\/\">greater U.S. oversight<\/a> of Venezuela\u2019s crude. Such coercion <a href=\"https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/2026\/01\/28\/rubio-senate-hearing-venezuela-trump-cuba-rand-paul\/\">appears to have worked<\/a>; soon after Venezuelan lawmakers approved the overhaul on Thursday, the White House <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/business\/energy\/us-eases-sanctions-venezuelan-oil-industry-2026-01-29\/\">eased some sanctions<\/a> on Caracas\u2019s oil industry.<\/p>\n<p>The Trump administration now appears to be <a href=\"https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/2026\/01\/29\/us-military-latin-america-trump-venezuela-cuba-colombia-mexico\/\">setting its sights<\/a> on Cuba. On Thursday, the U.S. president signed an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/presidential-actions\/2026\/01\/addressing-threats-to-the-united-states-by-the-government-of-cuba\/\">executive order<\/a> allowing the imposition of tariffs on any goods from countries that sell or provide oil to Havana, citing Cuba as an \u201cunusual and extraordinary threat\u201d to U.S. national security. The order is expected to worsen the island\u2019s already severe <a href=\"https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/2026\/01\/16\/us-cuba-trump-rubio-maduro-venezuela-oil\/\">energy crisis<\/a> and put heavy pressure on its remaining oil suppliers.<\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<h3><strong>What in the World?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>China\u2019s defense ministry announced on Saturday that two high-ranking generals had been placed under investigation for \u201csuspected serious discipline and law violations.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>One of the generals, Zhang Youxia, is\u2014like President Xi Jinping\u2014the son of an early Communist leader. These political scions are commonly referred to as what?<\/p>\n<p>A. Red children<br \/>B. Princelings<br \/>C. Little tyrants<br \/>D. Panda cubs<\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<h3><strong>Odds and Ends<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Last week, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney received a standing ovation for his <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=sFBkNX1-cbg\">Davos speech<\/a> heralding global unity in the face of a fractured world order. This week, though, Carney is focused on soft power\u2014specifically, the Canadian show <em>Heated Rivalry<\/em>, a hit hockey romance detailing the off-ice passion between two rival players. At the Canadian Media Producers Association industry conference known as Prime Time, Carney celebrated the show and even cheekily asked for a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/01\/30\/world\/canada\/heated-rivalry-carney-canada.html\">full-body hug<\/a> from Hudson Williams, who is one of the show\u2019s stars and a British Columbia native.<\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<h3><strong>And the Answer Is\u2026<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>B. Princelings<\/p>\n<p>Xi\u2019s anti-corruption campaign has frozen Beijing\u2019s political system in place, with fear now dictating the decisions of party officials, Deng Yuwen <a href=\"https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/2026\/01\/26\/xi-generals-zhang-youxia-anti-corruption-china\/#cookie_message_anchor\">argues<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>To take the rest of FP\u2019s weekly international news quiz, <a href=\"https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/2026\/01\/30\/news-quiz-china-xi-anti-corruption-trump-minneapolis-ice-israel-gaza\/\">click here<\/a>, or <a href=\"https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/alerts\/\">sign up<\/a> to be alerted when a new one is published.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/2026\/01\/30\/russia-halts-attacks-kyiv-ukraine-energy-infrastructure-trump-trilateral-talks\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Welcome back to World Brief, where we\u2019re looking at Russian attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure, Syria\u2019s historic peace deal, and the next chair of the U.S. Federal Reserve. Kyiv\u2019s Brief Reprieve Moscow confirmed on Friday that Russian President Vladimir Putin has agreed to halt strikes on Kyiv until Feb. 1. According to Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3788,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3787","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-politcical-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/firearmupgrades.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3787","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/firearmupgrades.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/firearmupgrades.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/firearmupgrades.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/firearmupgrades.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3787"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/firearmupgrades.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3787\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/firearmupgrades.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3788"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/firearmupgrades.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3787"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/firearmupgrades.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3787"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/firearmupgrades.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3787"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}