Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday declared a unilateral three-day ceasefire in Ukraine next month.
Three-day ceasefire to commemorate the 80th anniversary of Victory Day
The truce, proposed in commemoration of the 80th anniversary of Victory Day, will last from midnight on May 7 until midnight on May 11, the Kremlin said in a statement.
Kremlin said that this decision was made on humanitarian grounds. The statement says that in the event of violations of the truce by the Ukrainian side, the Russian military will respond with “adequate and effective measures.”
Thus, Russia declares its readiness for peace talks without preconditions aimed at eliminating the root causes of the Ukrainian crisis, the Kremlin said. Moscow believes that Kyiv should follow suit.
On April 19, Putin announced a 30-hour Easter truce. The head of state stressed that this decision was made on humanitarian grounds.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky immediately rejected the proposal after the Easter truce was announced. However, three hours later, he made another statement saying that Ukraine agreed to cease hostilities during the truce.
On 21 April, the Ministry of Defence announced that it had resumed military actions. According to their data, during the truce, Russia recorded 4,900 violations of the truce. Volodymyr Zelensky, in turn, reported 2,935 violations by Russia, citing a report by the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Oleksandr Syrskyi.
Reaction in Ukraine
In Ukraine, the first to react to the announcement of the ceasefire was Daria Zarivna, an adviser to the head of the Ukrainian president’s office.
“The ceasefire must be unconditional..everything else is Putin’s tactical games,” she wrote on her Telegram channel.
Later, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha expressed his opinion on the matter.
“If Russia truly wants peace, it must immediately cease fire. Why wait until May 8?” the Ukrainian foreign minister wrote on social media. He added that Kyiv is ready to support a long-term and complete ceasefire.
Finally, late in the evening, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky made a similar statement. He called Putin’s proposal manipulation.
“Yet again, another attempt at manipulation: For some reason, everyone is supposed to wait until May 8 before ceasing fire — just to provide Putin with silence for his parade,” he said.
The Ukrainian president added that Kyiv’s position is for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire for at least 30 days.
Rubio named the conditions for the US withdrawal from the Ukraine talks
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that Russia and Ukraine must present concrete proposals for resolving the conflict in the near future, otherwise the US will withdraw from its role as mediator in the negotiations. The State Department’s position was presented at a briefing by department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce.
“How we proceed from here is a decision that belongs now to the president. If there is not progress, we will step back as mediators in this process,” Tammy Bruce said.
Bruce added that the US is seeking a “complete, long-term ceasefire and an end to the conflict,” not a “three-day truce so that something else can be celebrated.”
“New momentum” in US-Ukraine relations
Ukraine is cautious but optimistic about the conclusion of a peace agreement, as US President Donald Trump has allegedly begun to change his position on Russia, The Economist reported, citing sources.
Sources close to the negotiations told the publication about a “new momentum” in US-Ukraine relations.
“We are trying to strengthen our position. But there is bluffing on all sides. And there is a risk that someone will go too far,” said one senior Ukrainian official.
The optimism in Kyiv is linked to the fact that US President Donald Trump has allegedly begun to change his attitude towards his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin and has come to respect Volodymyr Zelensky.
“At the beginning of the process, Trump was very disappointed with Zelensky. Now the irritation has shifted to Putin,” a government source told The Economist.
The process of resolving the conflict in Ukraine continues
The process of resolving the conflict in Ukraine continues, and Russian President Vladimir Putin’s goals have not changed, his press secretary Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday.
“The settlement process continues. President Putin has one main goal: to achieve the objectives he set when he launched the military operation. We must ensure our national interests,” Peskov told reporters.
“The president remains open to political and diplomatic methods of resolving this conflict. But the situation is what it is. We have not heard any response from Kyiv. The process continues,” Peskov stressed.
The Kremlin understands that Washington wants to achieve rapid progress in the Ukrainian settlement, but this process is too complicated, Peskov said.
“We understand that Washington wants to achieve quick success in this process, but at the same time we hope that there is an understanding that the settlement of the Ukrainian crisis is too complicated, there are many issues and details that need to be resolved before a settlement can be reached,” Peskov told reporters on Wednesday.
He stressed that the agreement must be concluded “with Ukraine, not the United States.” He noted that Washington is acting as a mediator in these negotiations, and Moscow is “grateful to the United States for these efforts.”
Peskov recalled that Russian President Vladimir Putin recently reiterated his readiness to hold direct talks with Ukraine, but Kyiv has not responded to this proposal.
