Putin Announces ‘Easter Truce’ In Ukraine Conflict
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday announced a surprise Easter truce in Ukraine, set to last until midnight on Sunday in what would be the most significant pause in the fighting throughout the three-year conflict.
The short-term order for Russia’s troops to halt all combat activity — which Ukraine has not said if it will match — comes after months of US President Donald Trump pushing both Moscow and Kyiv to agree a truce.
He has so far failed to extract any major concessions from the Kremlin.
“Today from 1800 (1500 GMT) to midnight Sunday (2100 GMT Sunday), the Russian side announces an Easter truce,” Putin said in televised comments during a meeting with the Russian chief of the general staff Valery Gerasimov.
Air raid alerts blasted across Ukraine on Saturday afternoon, including in the capital Kyiv, but ended right as Putin’s order apparently came into force.
Easter, a major holiday for Christians, is celebrated on Sunday.
“I order for this period to stop all military action,” Putin said, calling the truce motivated by “humanitarian reasons”.
“We are going on the basis that the Ukrainian side will follow our example, while our troops must be ready to resist possible breaches of the truce and provocations by the enemy, any aggressive actions,” Putin said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in a social media post responded sceptically to the truce proposal, accusing Putin of attempting to “play with human lives”.
He did not say whether Ukraine would halt fighting during the period.
In the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk near the front line, soldiers told AFP that any truce would not have a lasting impact.
