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30-04-2025
MOSCOW: Russia has declared a 72-hour unilateral ceasefire in Ukraine to coincide with its most sacrosanct national holiday marking the World War II defeat of Nazi Germany, Victory Day, calling on Kyiv to agree to the pause.
Ukraine was quick in its response, which came soon after the Russian proposal on Monday.
“If Russia truly wants peace, it must cease fire immediately,” Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said, according to his ministry. He reiterated that Ukraine is ready for a “lasting, reliable, and complete ceasefire” for at least 30 full days.
“Why wait for May 8? If we can cease fire now from any date and for 30 days – so that it is real, and not just for a parade,” he said, without confirming whether Kyiv would accept the truce proposal.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky later on Monday also dismissed the three-day truce. “Now there’s a new attempt at manipulation; for some reason, everyone has to wait until May 8”, he said in his daily address.
Earlier, President Vladimir Putin said Russian forces would halt fighting from midnight on May 7-8 to midnight on May 10-11. The announcement came amid rising pressure from the United States to agree to a full ceasefire in the conflict.
Russia will mark the 80th anniversary of the end of the Great Patriotic War, the term it uses for its war with the Third Reich from 1942 to 1945, commonly known as World War II, on May 9.
“During this period, all hostilities will cease,” the Kremlin said in a statement. Putin made the decision on “humanitarian grounds”, it added.
The Kremlin statement called on Kyiv to join the ceasefire, but pledged that in the event of any violations by the Ukrainians, Russia’s armed forces would give an “adequate and effective response”.
Zein Basravi reporting from Kyiv for media, said, “Ukrainians aren’t really taking this seriously, they are responding to it rather harshly with a great deal of criticism … The response from military officers, as well as those in the field, various military spokespeople are far more critical, far more harsh, far more plainly spoken (than the government) “.
One Ukrainian officer, Basravi said, thought the ceasefire is pure insanity and honestly infuriating.
“Putin is simply trying to whitewash himself, show that the Russians are good guys. In fact, he never respected any ceasefire agreements and they don’t plan to, even during this so-called ceasefire, talking about Easter Sunday, our men continued to die, they will continue to die during this so-called ceasefire and nothing about it will bring us any closer to peace”, the officer added, according to Basravi.
Monday’s announcement was Putin’s second surprise pause declaration in quick succession, following a 30-hour Easter truce on April 19-20, which both countries accused each other of violating.
The announcements of the Easter truce and the May pause have been made while US President Donald Trump has been signaling that he was growing impatient with Putin as he sought to oversee a peace agreement.
US proposals on ending the three-year war in Ukraine have so far ceded to Russia’s demands, calling for recognition of Moscow’s control over Crimea as well as de facto recognition of Russia’s hold on other parts of Ukraine.
However, after meeting Zelenskyy on the sidelines of Pope Francis’s funeral on Saturday, Trump adopted a more critical tone towards Russia, voicing concern that Putin was “just tapping me along”. (Int’l News Desk)
