Russian President Vladimir Putin introduced a unilateral Easter cease-fire in Ukraine, instructing his forces to halt hostilities from 6 p.m. Moscow time (1500 GMT) on Saturday via the top of Sunday.
But Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy mentioned Russian drone strikes had been ongoing, with air protection models repelling assaults on Saturday—proof, he mentioned, of Moscow’s disregard for Easter and human life.
“Based on humanitarian considerations … the Russian side announces an Easter truce. I order a stop to all military activities for this period,” Putin instructed his army chief, Valery Gerasimov, at a gathering within the Kremlin.
“We assume that Ukraine will follow our example. At the same time, our troops should be prepared to repel possible violations of the truce and provocations by the enemy, any aggressive actions,” Putin added.
U.S. President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio mentioned Friday the United States would stroll away from efforts to dealer a Russia-Ukraine peace deal until there are clear indicators of progress quickly.
The full-scale warfare started when Putin ordered hundreds of Russian troops throughout the border into Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022.
Putin has mentioned repeatedly that he needs an finish to the warfare. He has demanded that Ukraine formally drop its ambitions to hitch NATO and withdraw its troops from the whole thing of 4 Ukrainian areas claimed by Moscow.
Kyiv has broadly rejected these phrases as tantamount to give up.
Putin instructed Gerasimov on Saturday that Russia welcomed efforts from the United States, China and BRICS international locations to discover a peaceable settlement to the battle.
The Russian Defense Ministry mentioned it had given directions on the cease-fire to all group commanders within the space of the “special military operation,” the Kremlin’s time period for the warfare.
Russian troops will adhere to the cease-fire supplied it’s “mutually respected” by Ukraine, the ministry mentioned in a press release.
Separately, the Russian Defense Ministry mentioned Russia and Ukraine carried out a prisoner-of-war swap of 246 prisoners every on Saturday, mediated by the United Arab Emirates.
The Russian POWs are in Belarus, the ministry mentioned, the place they had been being supplied with medical and psychological care.
Source: www.dailysabah.com