Russian President Vladimir Putin today announced an Easter truce in the conflict in Ukraine starting this evening and lasting till midnight on Sunday. In televised comments, while speaking to chief of Russia’s general staff Valery Gerasimov, Mr. Putin announced the Easter truce.
Mr. Putin said, he assumed Ukraine would follow Russia’s example, but told the chief of Russia’s general staff to ready Russian troops to repel any violations of the truce by Kyiv.
The announcement comes amid a proposal from the United States that was presented to European leaders during secretary of state Marco Rubio’s visit to Paris this week.
“Today from 1800 (1500 GMT) to midnight Sunday (2100 GMT Sunday), the Russian side announces an Easter truce,” Putin said in televised comments, while speaking to Russian chief of staff Valery Gerasimov,
The Russian leader added that he assumed Ukraine would follow Russia’s example, but told Gerasimov to ready Russian troops to repel any violations of the truce by Kyiv.
In the televised meeting, the military chief told Putin that Russian troops had retaken over 99 percent of the territory seized by Ukraine in the Kursk region in an incursion launched in August.
“In the areas of the Kursk region where the Ukrainian armed forces mounted an incursion, the main part of the territory… is now liberated. That’s 1,260 square kilometres, 99.5 percent,” Gerasimov said in the meeting.
The US peace plan for the Russia-Ukraine war
The US has reportedly offered to ease sanctions on Moscow in a plan presented to allies aimed at enabling a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine.
According to a report by Bloomberg, the plan also includes an outline of terms to end the fighting. The sanctions may be eased in the event of a lasting ceasefire.
The renewed push to end the war came even as US Secretary of State Marco Rubio suggested on Friday that the Trump administration is prepared to “move on” from its peace efforts unless progress is made. US Vice President JD Vance, on the other hand, said in Rome on the same day that he was “optimistic” about the chances of bringing the war to a close.
The contours of the US plan was shared during meetings in Paris on Thursday, the sources quoted in the Bloomberg report confirmed.
