Russian President Vladimir Putin said he had ordered his forces to “arrest all military activities” in Ukraine because he declared a “Easter truce” until the end of Sunday.
He said that the 30 -hour truce would last until 10:00 p.m. on Sunday (Moscow time), adding that Russian forces should be ready to respond to “any possible violation”.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said kyiv would join the truce, but accused Moscow of having broken it.
“If Russia is now suddenly ready to really engage in a format of complete and unconditional silence, Ukraine will act accordingly-reflecting the actions of Russia,” he said.
“Our actions are and will be symmetrical. The proposal for a complete and unconditional silence of 30 days remains on the table-The answer must come from Moscow,” he wrote on X.
He said the fighting continued in the Kursk and Belgorod regions in Russia and Russian drones were still used, but added that certain areas had become quieter.
Zelensky said Ukraine would be ready to extend a truce beyond April 20, apparently referring to a previous proposal from the United States for a 30-day ceasefire that Ukraine has already accepted.
Responding to Putin’s initial announcement, Putin’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Andriy Sybiha, wrote on X: “Putin has now made statements concerning her alleged preparation for a cease-fire. 30 hours instead of 30 days.”
“Unfortunately, we have had a long history of his statements that do not correspond to his actions. We know that his words cannot trust and we will examine the actions, not the words,” he added.
Putin announced the temporary truce at a meeting with her general chief of staff, Valery Gerasimov.
“Based on humanitarian considerations … The Russian part announces a truce of Easter. I order a stop at all military activities for this period,” Putin told Gerasimov.
“We assume that Ukraine will follow our example. At the same time, our troops should be ready to repel any violations of the truce and provocations by the enemy, all aggressive actions.”
The Russian Defense Ministry said its troops would adhere to the cease-fire provided it is “mutually respected” by Ukraine.
This is not the first time that a break in the fighting has suddenly announced-a previous atmosphere of ceasefire during Orthodox Christmas in January 2023 collapsed after the two parties did not agree on a proposal.
Reacting to the announcement of Putin’s truce, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the United Kingdom said: “Now is the time for Putin to really show that he is serious about peace by putting an end to his horrible invasion and engaging in a full ceasefire, because the Ukrainian government asked for-not just a day for Easter.”
Russia launched a large -scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022. It is estimated that hundreds of thousands of people – the vast majority of them – were killed or injured on all sides.
The United States has directly spoken to Russia in the context of its efforts to end the war, but have struggled to make major progress.
Last month, Moscow rejected a proposal for a complete and unconditional ceasefire that had been agreed by the United States and Ukraine.
US President Donald Trump warned that Washington “would take a pass” on discussions on other discussions on the end of the Ukraine war unless there has been rapid progress.
He spoke after the Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that the United States was not going to “continue with this company for weeks and months” because it had “other priorities on which to concentrate”.
“We have to determine very quickly now – and I’m talking about a question of days – whether or not it is,” he added.
“If this is not going to happen, then we will simply continue.”
