Vladimir Putin has introduced a 30-hour “Easter truce” in Ukraine – however Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Russian assaults are persevering with hours after it was because of start.
The Ukrainian president shared a press release on X after his Russian counterpart stated a ceasefire would final from 6pm on Saturday to midnight on Easter Sunday – each Moscow time, which is 2 hours forward of the UK.
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“Guided by humanitarian concerns… the Russian aspect declares an Easter truce,” Mr Putin stated at a gathering with chief of common workers Valery Gerasimov.
“I order that every one army actions be stopped for this era.
“We assume that the Ukrainian aspect will comply with our instance. On the identical time, our troops should be able to repel potential violations of the truce and provocations from the enemy, any of its aggressive actions.”
Mr Zelenskyy claimed Russian assaults have been persevering with regardless of the truce announcement.
He wrote: “As of now… Russian assault operations proceed on a number of frontline sectors, and Russian artillery hearth has not subsided.
“Subsequently, there is no such thing as a belief in phrases coming from Moscow.”
Mr Zelenskyy stated in the identical assertion {that a} US proposal for a “full and unconditional 30 days ceasefire” has gone “unanswered” by Russia for 39 days.
He added that Ukraine “responded positively” to the American proposal however “Russia ignored it”.
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The Ukrainian president stated that “if Russia is now all of a sudden prepared to actually have interaction in a format of full and unconditional silence, Ukraine will act accordingly – mirroring Russia’s actions”.
“If an entire ceasefire actually takes maintain, Ukraine proposes extending it past the Easter day of April 20,” he added.
“That’s what will reveal Russia’s true intentions – as a result of 30 hours is sufficient to make headlines, however not for real confidence-building measures. Thirty days might give peace an opportunity.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy talking earlier this week. Pic: AP
Shortly after the ceasefire was introduced, Ukraine’s international minister Andrii Sybiha stated there had been a “lengthy historical past” of Mr Putin’s phrases not “matching his actions”.
“We all know his phrases can’t be trusted and we’ll have a look at actions, not phrases,” he added.
The ceasefire announcement has echoes of January 2023, when Mr Putin ordered his forces in Ukraine to watch a 36-hour truce for Orthodox Christmas.
At the moment, Mr Zelenskyy stopped in need of stating his forces would reject Mr Putin’s request, but dismissed the Russian move as playing for time to regroup its invasion forces and put together extra assaults.
Prisoner trade
It comes as Ukraine and Russia performed a swap of greater than 500 prisoners of struggle on Saturday, the most recent in a sequence of exchanges since Russia launched a full-scale invasion greater than three years in the past.
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Russia and Ukraine swap tons of of prisoners
Mr Zelenskyy, in a submit on the Telegram messaging app, stated 277 Ukrainian service personnel had returned residence from Russian captivity.
Russia’s defence ministry stated 246 servicemen had been handed over by Kyiv.
It stated an additional 31 injured prisoners of struggle had been handed over to Ukraine and 15 of its personal wounded servicemen had additionally been returned by Kyiv.
The developments come after US President Donald Trump on Friday stated negotiations between Ukraine and Russia are “coming to a head” and insisted that neither side is “playing” him in his push to finish the grinding three-year struggle.
Mr Trump spoke shortly after secretary of state Marco Rubio warned that the US may “move on” from making an attempt to safe a Russia-Ukraine peace deal if there is no such thing as a progress within the coming days, after months of efforts have did not convey an finish to the preventing.
