Russia and Ukraine have agreed to a truce for Orthodox Easter, with Vladimir Putin saying he’s ordered Russian troops to cease fire “in all directions” this weekend.
The declaration from Moscow came after Volodymyr Zelensky issued repeated calls for a ceasefire, all ignored by the Kremlin.
Now, Putin has announced a truce from 16:00 local time (14:00 BST) on Saturday, 11 April through Easter Sunday, adding that he expected Ukraine to “follow the example” of Russia. He ordered his forces to be ready to intercept “possible enemy provocations” and any “aggressive actions.”
Russia’s tone and the attempt to steal the initiative will make Ukrainians bristle.
But Zelensky soon posted on X that Ukraine was “ready for symmetrical steps”.
“People need an Easter free from threats and real movement toward peace,” he wrote. “Russia has a chance not to return to strikes after Easter as well.”
Earlier this week, Zelensky said he had asked the United States to pass on a proposal for a holiday weekend truce to Moscow, as a first step.
Any respite from the fighting would be welcome for the soldiers along the long frontline in eastern Ukraine, where they’re hounded relentlessly by attack drones.
It would also allow people to relax across the country, where air raid sirens are part of the everyday and Russian missiles and drones continue to kill and injure civilians.
Just recently, several people were killed when a drone targeted their bus in Nikopol in the south-east. In Zhytomyr, just west of Kyiv, a woman died when a missile landed next to her home in the middle of the morning.
The sirens went off again in Kyiv shortly after the weekend truce was announced.
Ukraine has also increased its drone attacks on Russia, targeting its energy exports in particular in a series of intense strikes. Russia says residential houses were also hit.
If this truce does come into effect on Saturday, Ukrainians will be sceptical that it can hold.
Earlier this year, Russia claimed it had called an “energy truce” – halting its devastating strikes on Ukraine’s power plants in the depths of winter – but the pause lasted just long enough to prepare the missiles for the next major attack.
Last May, Russia declared a unilateral halt to the fighting to mark the 80th anniversary of the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany. That time, Ukraine recorded hundreds of ceasefire violations.
What Kyiv really wants – and has proposed, repeatedly – is a full and stable ceasefire as a first step towards negotiating a lasting end to Russia’s invasion.
But Moscow insists on agreeing on the peace deal first, prompting accusations from Kyiv that Russia is not serious about ending the fighting.
There have been several rounds of talks, with the US acting as a mediator, but the process has been on hold since Donald Trump shifted his focus to the Middle East.
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