Vladimir Putin has ordered an immediate halt to all Russian military actions in Ukraine until the end of the Easter holiday.
The truce will come into effect at 6pm local time (4pm BST) today and end at midnight on Sunday (10pm BST). Putin – whose invasion of Ukraine in 2022 has since led to the deaths of thousands of civilians – said he hoped the Ukrainian side will follow Russia‘s example and ‘stop the fighting’, according to state media. He said: “Guided by humanitarian considerations, today from 6pm to midnight from Sunday to Monday, the Russian side declares an Easter truce. I order all military actions to be stopped for this period.
But he also warned that Russia would respond harshly to anything it deemed to be a provocation, adding: “At the same time, our troops must be ready to repel possible violations of the truce and provocations from the enemy, any of its aggressive actions.”
The Ukrainian air force meanwhile reported that Russia fired 87 exploding drones and decoys in the latest wave of attacks overnight. It said 33 of them were intercepted and another 36 were lost, likely having been electronically jammed.
It comes after Donald Trump yesterday threatened that the US might “take a pass” on peace negotiations to end the war in Ukraine if talks prove too difficult. The US president’s easing off on diplomatic efforts to end the conflict follows the expiry of the previous 30-day ceasefire deal to stop Russian attacks on energy infrastructure.
Trump told reporters: “Now, if for some reason, one of the two parties makes it very difficult, we’re just going to say: ‘You’re foolish. You are fools, you horrible people’. And we’re going to just take a pass. But hopefully, we won’t have to do that.”
Last week, Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned that the U.S. may “move on” if there is no progress in the coming days.
He said during a visit to Paris: “We are now reaching a point where we need to decide whether this is even possible or not. Because if it’s not, then I think we’re just going to move on. It’s not our war. We have other priorities to focus on.”
This weekend, Russia’s Ministry of Defence said its forces had pushed Ukrainian forces from one of their last remaining footholds in the Kursk region. Russian forces took control of the village of Oleshnya, on the border with Ukraine, the ministry said.
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