Ukraine and Russia continued fighting, accusing each other of violating a ceasefire during a 30-hour “Easter truce” announced by Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday.
On Saturday, Putin declared that all fighting would cease from 18:00 Moscow time (16:00 BST) until midnight on Sunday (22:00 BST).
For this period, I order all military actions to cease. 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.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that he would adhere to the ceasefire. The truce, timed to coincide with Easter celebrations, expired and hostilities continued.
Russia’s Defence Ministry stated that it had “repelled” Ukrainian strikes and accused Kyiv of launching drones and shells. In total, Ukraine violated the truce 4,900 times, according to the ministry.
For his part, Zelensky said that Russian troops had also violated the ceasefire since early Sunday. However, Russia’s Defence Ministry claimed its troops had “strictly observed the ceasefire.”
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump said that “hopefully Russia and Ukraine will make a deal this week.” However, frustration is reportedly growing in the White House over the failure to conclude a peace deal and end the war within Trump’s expected timeframe.
The unexpected announcement of the Easter ceasefire came shortly after Trump threatened to “take a pass” on mediating further peace talks between Ukraine and Russia. However, a State Department spokesperson said on Sunday that Washington remained “committed to achieving a full and comprehensive ceasefire” in Ukraine.
