Russian President, Vladimir Putin, announced a temporary Easter ceasefire in the war against Ukraine starting on Saturday, citing humanitarian reasons. According to the Kremlin, the ceasefire will last from 6 pm Moscow time on Saturday until midnight on Sunday.
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“We assume that the Ukrainian side will follow our example. At the same time, our troops must be prepared to repel possible violations of the ceasefire and provocations from the enemy, as well as any aggressive actions,” Putin stated in a meeting with Chief of Staff Valery Gerasimov, in a video shared by the Kremlin Press Service.
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The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, described the ceasefire as “another attempt by Putin to play with human life.” He wrote in X that “air raid alerts are spreading throughout Ukraine” and that “Shahed drones in our skies reveal Putin’s true attitude towards Easter and human life.”
Why did Putin announce a brief ceasefire?
Putin’s ceasefire announcement came after U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday that negotiations between Ukraine and Russia are “reaching a critical point” and insisted that neither party is “deceiving” him in their efforts to end the exhausting three-year war.
Trump spoke shortly after Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned that the United States could “leave behind” its efforts to secure a peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine if there is no progress in the coming days, after months of efforts failed to end the fighting.
Russia and Ukraine carry out the largest prisoner exchange
Meanwhile, both parties exchanged hundreds of prisoners of war on Saturday. The Russian Ministry of Defense reported that 246 Russian soldiers were returned from the territory controlled by Kiev and, as a gesture of goodwill, 31 injured Ukrainian prisoners of war were transferred in exchange for 15 injured Russian soldiers who required urgent medical attention.
Zelensky said that 277 Ukrainian “warriors” have returned home from Russian captivity.
Both parties thanked the United Arab Emirates for their mediation.