Russia declares Easter truce and vows to halt all hostilities

Russian leader Vladimir Putin has announced an Easter truce, which supposedly means a halt to all hostilities in Ukraine from the evening of 19 April until midnight on 21 April. Source: Kremlin-aligned Russian news agency TASS, citing the Kremlin

Details: According to Putin, Russia will stop all hostilities from 18:00 on 19 April Moscow time (which coincides with Kyiv time) until 00:00 on 21 April. Quote: "Guided by humanitarian considerations, the Russian side is declaring an Easter truce today from 18:00 to 00:00 from Sunday to Monday.

I order that all hostilities be ceased for this period. We assume that the Ukrainian side will follow suit."

Details: Meanwhile, although Ukraine has not declared a truce and it is unclear whether the proposal was coordinated with Kyiv, Putin has already warned of possible "violations": "Our troops must be ready to repel possible violations of the truce and provocations and any aggressive actions by the enemy." Putin added that the response to the Easter truce will indicate how genuine Kyiv's ability and willingness to engage in peace talks truly is.

Update: Russia's Ministry of Defence later confirmed that it had instructed all unit commanders to observe a ceasefire from 18:00 on 19 April to 00:00 on 21 April (Moscow time). However, it emphasised that Russian forces would uphold the truce only if Ukraine does the same. Background: Ukraine previously agreed to a full ceasefire proposed by the United States.

On 14 April, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that Russia had refused to halt hostilities for 34 consecutive days and that Putin remained intent on pursuing the war.

However, Kyiv has not issued any statements regarding the one-day Easter truce.

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