Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a temporary Easter ceasefire in Ukraine, citing humanitarian reasons during a meeting with Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov. The Kremlin stated that the truce would begin at 6 PM Moscow time on Saturday and continue until midnight following Easter Sunday.
The announcement coincided with a statement from Russia’s Defense Ministry, which said its forces had driven Ukrainian troops out of one of their last remaining footholds in the Kursk region, an area where Ukraine had launched a surprise incursion last year.
“We assume that the Ukrainian side will follow our example. 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,” Putin added.
On Friday, after Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov held a telephonic conversation with the United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio, US President Donald Trump said that he expects to get Russia’s response on a possible ceasefire in Ukraine over the weekend.
“We’re going to be hearing from them this week, very shortly, actually. I think we’re getting close, but we’ll let you know very soon,” Trump told reporters at the White House.
The Russian Foreign Ministry stated that Lavrov reaffirmed Moscow’s readiness to continue collaborative efforts with American counterparts to comprehensively address the root causes of the Ukrainian crisis.
Secretary Rubio, who was in Paris, informed the Russian side about the recent engagements that he and US President’s Special Envoy Steve Witkoff had in the French capital.
