Russia violated its own “truce”

Laura Cooper, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Russia, Ukraine and Eurasia, said at a briefing on Friday. "As for Putin's statement on a ceasefire, I can tell you that today we are seeing hostilities in Ukraine, even if formally it is a ceasefire," she said. According to Cooper, Russian troops are in need of breathing room and rearmament, and Russia's declared "truce" is not long enough to make it happen.

"Again, this is Putin's statement, which we must take with a certain amount of skepticism.

This is the same man who said he would not invade Ukraine," the Pentagon spokeswoman recalled.