Russia and Ukraine have agreed to a ceasefire for Orthodox Easter, and Russian dictator Vladimir Putin has said he has ordered Russian troops to cease fire in all directions, the BBC reports.
Moscow’s announcement comes after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky repeatedly called for a ceasefire during the holiday, but the Kremlin ignored the calls. Now it has announced the ceasefire in a way that suggests it is a Moscow’s idea. The ceasefire was announced from 4 p.m. on the 11th of April to the end of the day on the 12th of April (local time), and Russia said it expected Ukraine to follow suit. Putin reportedly ordered Russian forces to be ready to intercept “possible enemy provocations” and prepare for “aggressive action” from the Ukrainian side.
Zelensky informed on the X that Ukraine is ready to take equivalent steps. He wrote that people need Easter without threats, and real steps towards peace: “Russia has a chance not to return to strikes after Easter as well.” Earlier this week, Zelensky informed that he had called on the United States to submit a proposal for a ceasefire to Moscow during the holiday.
Ukrainian soldiers on the long front line in eastern Ukraine would welcome any respite from the fighting. It would also allow civilians to take a moment to breathe in a country where air raid sirens are an everyday occurrence and Russian missiles and drones continue to kill people. Recently, several people died after a drone hit a bus in Nikopol. A woman died in Zhytomyr when a missile fell next to her house.
Soon after the ceasefire was announced, air raid sirens sounded again in KYiv.
Ukraine has also stepped up attacks on Russian infrastructure, with a particular focus on its energy exports.
Even if the ceasefire takes effect, Ukrainians are skeptical that it will last. Earlier this year, Russia declared an “energy ceasefire,” halting attacks on Ukrainian power plants in the middle of a freezing winter, but the truce lasted only long enough for Russia to prepare for a new, massive missile offensive. Last May, Russia declared a unilateral ceasefire to celebrate its so-called “Victory Day,” but Ukrainians recorded hundreds of Russian violations of the ceasefire at that time.
What Kyiv really wants, and has repeatedly proposed, is a stable and complete ceasefire as a first step toward ending the Russian invasion. Meanwhile, Moscow insists that a peace treaty must first be signed, leading Kyiv to express suspicions that Russia is not taking the ceasefire seriously.
There have been several rounds of talks, with the US acting as a mediator, but they have stalled since US President Donald Trump turned his attention to the Middle East on the last day of February.
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