Russian leader Vladimir Putin has declared an “Easter ceasefire”. According to him, the Russian army will supposedly cease all fighting from 6:00 p.m. on April 19 to 12:00 a.m. on April 21.
This was reported by the Kremlin press service.
Putin announced the alleged ceasefire at a meeting with the head of the Russian General Staff Valeriy Gerasimov. He stated that the Russian army "must be ready to repel possible ceasefire violations and provocations".
In January 2023, the Russian authorities had already declared a “Christmas ceasefire”. However, the fighting did not stop. After this “ceasefire” neither on Easter nor on Christmas, the Russian authorities did not even formally declare it and continued to shell Ukraine daily — both on the front and on civilian infrastructure.
Kyiv has already agreed to halt hostilities in the Black Sea and not to attack Russian energy facilities during a 30-day ceasefire. Moscow, in return, has only promised not to attack energy facilities and said it will implement agreements on the Black Sea only after Western sanctions are lifted.
On the eve of the US, which is negotiating with Russia and Ukraine to end the war, announced that it would "walk away" from this process if a peace agreement is not concluded in the near future.
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