Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday declared a 32-hour ceasefire in Ukraine over the Orthodox Easter weekend, following an earlier call from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for a pause in some of the hostilities to observe the holiday.
Putin鈥檚 decree, released by the Kremlin, orders Russian forces to observe a ceasefire starting on 4 p.m. Saturday and lasting until the end of Sunday.
Zelenskyy proposed that each side stop targeting each other鈥檚 energy infrastructure over the holiday, saying he made the offer through the United States, which has been between delegations from Moscow and Kyiv as stretches into a fifth year.
There was no immediate reaction from Kyiv to Putin鈥檚 announcement.
to secure ceasefires have had little or no impact. Putin a 30-hour ceasefire last Easter, but each side accused the other of breaking it.
The Kremlin statement announcing the ceasefire said that 鈥渙rders have been issued for this period to cease hostilities in all directions,鈥� adding that 鈥渢roops are to be prepared to counter any possible provocations by the enemy, as well as any aggressive actions.鈥�
鈥淲e assume that the Ukrainian side will follow the example of the Russian Federation,鈥� it said.
Russia has effectively rejected a 30-day unconditional truce proposed last year by the U.S. and Ukraine as a step toward peace, insisting instead on a comprehensive settlement, but Moscow has announced several short, unilateral ceasefires.
The U.S.-led talks have made no progress on key issues, and Washington鈥檚 attention has switched to the Middle East conflict while the Russian and Ukrainian armies remain locked in battle on the roughly 1,250-kilometer (800-mile) front line.
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