Putin orders a ceasefire for Easter, Zelensky denounces « an attempt to play with human lives »-Liberation

Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his troops this Saturday, April 19, to observe a ceasefire in Ukraine During Easter, from 3 p.m. GMT (5 p.m. in Paris) and until the night of Sunday to Monday, calling on Kyiv to do the same, when discussions with a view to a more global truce seem to be deadlocked. « Guided by humanitarian considerations, the Russian part declares a truce of Easter today, at 6 pm (3:00 pm GMT, editor’s note) at midnight between Sunday and Monday (9 pm GMT on Sunday). I give the order to stop all hostilities during this period « said Vladimir Putin at a meeting broadcast on Russian television.

« We assume that the Ukrainian part will follow our example »he added, while ordering his forces to be ready for a « Immediate and complete response » in case of « Truce violations » or « Any aggressive action » From Kyiv soldiers. According to the Russian Head of State, the Ukrainian response « Will show the sincerity of the Kyiv regime, its will and its ability to respect agreements, to participate in the process of peace talks aimed at eliminating the profound causes of the Ukrainian crisis ».

For his part, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky denounced a « Attempt to play with human lives » From his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. « A new attempt by Putin to play with human lives », said Volodymyr Zelensky on Telegram, stressing that « Russian attack drones have been detected » in the Ukrainian sky. However, he did not clearly formulate Kyiv’s position about this ceasefire.

Attempts to establish a truce on the occasion of Easter in Ukraine have already taken place twice since the beginning of the conflict in February 2022. In April 2022, a first initiative in this sense, taken by the secretary general of the UNUNIO Guterres, had not materialized because of the refusal of Russia, which had judged that a cease-fire would give the opportunity to the Ukrainian army to rearm.

The following year, in January 2023, the patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Kirill urged the two camps to interrupt hostilities for Easter and Russia had decreed a 36-hour ceasefire but it had been qualified as « trap » through Ukraine and the clashes had continued.

Vladimir Putin’s announcement comes when Russia states to have reconquered 99 % of the territories occupied by Ukraine in the Koursk region. “The majority of the region of the region where the invasion has taken place has now been released. These are 1,260 square kilometers, or 99.5 % of the region of the region ”said on television the Russian chief of staff, Valeri Guerassimov, to President Vladimir Putin. Such progression would once again move the fighting in Ukrainian soil.

Russia has also announced this Saturday to have exchanged more than 240 prisoners of war on each side with Ukraine, including wounded soldiers requiring emergency care, this type of exchange remaining one of the last areas of cooperation between the two countries.

Truce’s announcement on Saturday also comes when Donald Trump’s administration’s efforts to find a way out of the conflict in Ukraine has been deadlocked in recent days, which has caused the US president’s irritation. Donald Trump threatened on Friday to withdraw from negotiations on Ukraine for lack of rapid progress in separate discussions with kyiv and with Moscow that his lieutenants have for several weeks.

The same day, the Kremlin had indicated considering as having « expired » The moratorium on strikes against energy sites, announced in March for 30 days but whose implementation remained unclear. Russia and Ukraine overwhelmed almost daily to rape it. Before the announcement of this truce limited to energy sites, Donald Trump had initially offered an unconditional and complete ceasefire, the principle of which had been accepted by Kyiv under the pressure of Washington but dismissed by Vladimir Putin.

Update with the reaction of Volodymyr Zelensky; at 5:40 p.m. with more context