President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia ordered his forces to “stop all military activity” against Ukraine from Saturday evening through Sunday, declaring an “Easter truce” that appeared aimed at showing an impatient Trump administration that Moscow was still open to peace talks.
“We will assume that the Ukrainian side will follow our example,” Mr. Putin said in a meeting televised on Saturday with his top military commander, Gen. Valery V. Gerasimov.
Mr. Putin claimed that Kyiv’s response would shed light on Ukraine’s “desire, and, indeed, its ability” to take part in negotiations to end the war.
In a post on social media an hour after Mr. Putin’s announcement, President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine referred to the offer of a truce as Mr. Putin’s “next attempt to play with people’s lives.”
Mr. Zelensky did not specify whether Ukraine would observe a truce. While other Ukrainian officials criticized the offer, they also didn’t flatly reject it.
Shortly after the Kremlin released Mr. Putin’s comments, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement that Russian forces would observe the Easter cease-fire “provided that it is mutually observed by the Kyiv regime.”
It was unclear on Saturday night whether any fighting had stopped. About an hour after the truce was scheduled to start, Andriy Kovalenko, a Ukrainian defense official, said on Telegram that “the Russians continue to fire in all directions, as before. Most of all in the East.”
For Mr. Putin, the truce offer could achieve two goals: showing President Trump that Russia is making steps toward peace and putting Mr. Zelensky into a bind.
The move came a day after the Trump administration made its impatience plain with Russia’s unwillingness to agree to a monthlong cease-fire, which Ukraine said in March it was ready to observe.
If Ukraine does not observe it, then Mr. Trump could accuse Ukraine of resisting moves toward ending the war. If the Ukrainians do observe it, many Ukrainians fear that Russia could take advantage of the pause by moving troops into advantageous positions. Ukraine’s defense is largely based on preventing Russian forces from gathering in large numbers by hitting behind the front lines with drones and artillery.
Ukraine’s forces, too, could potentially reposition during a truce, but its focus is on holding defensive lines rather than massing for attacks, and its military did not have advance warning of the truce offer.
Many Ukrainians pointed out that air-raid sirens rang out in Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital, around 5 p.m. local time, shortly after Mr. Putin announced the cease-fire and an hour before it was due to start.
In his response to the truce offer, Mr. Zelensky wrote that “Ukrainian air defense and aviation have already begun working to defend themselves.” Referring to Iranian-designed Russian drones, he went on: “Russian ‘Shaheds’ in our skies are Putin’s true attitude to Easter and to people’s lives.”
Ukraine’s foreign minister, Andrii Sybiha, said on X Saturday evening that Mr. Putin could not be trusted, suggesting that Russia could sign on to a 30-day cease-fire proposal that Mr. Trump had proposed and Ukraine already agreed to. “We will look at actions, not words,” he wrote.
Russia previously declared a unilateral truce for the Eastern Orthodox Christmas in January 2023. At the time, Mr. Zelensky dismissed the idea as cynical posturing meant to allow Russia to reposition soldiers and equipment.
The Kremlin also quickly sought to turn Washington’s attention to Mr. Putin’s announcement. Kirill Dmitriev, an envoy for Mr. Putin who traveled to Washington this month, posted the news on X, adding, “One step closer to peace” and an emoji of a dove.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Friday that the United States could decide “in a matter of days” to “move on” from trying to end the war. Mr. Trump said later that “if for some reason one of the two parties makes it very difficult,” the United States could decide that “we’re just going to take a pass.”
On Saturday evening, in another sign that both Ukraine and Russia were trying to show positive movement on the war, the countries exchanged the largest number of prisoners of war in a single swap since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022. Mr. Zelensky said that 277 Ukrainian soldiers had returned home in time for Easter. Officials said 246 Russian soldiers also were sent home.
In his televised meeting on Saturday with General Gerasimov, Mr. Putin sought to portray Russia as seeking peace and Ukraine as the recalcitrant party. He said Russian forces needed to be ready “to repel possible cease-fire violations and provocations by the enemy.”
“We have always been ready” for peace talks, Mr. Putin said.
Referring to the Chinese leader, Xi Jinping, and the informal club of nations that also includes Brazil, India and South Africa, Mr. Putin added that Russia welcomed “in every way the efforts of President Trump, our Chinese friends, the chairman of the People’s Republic of China, the BRICS countries and all supporters to achieve a fair and peaceful settlement of the Ukraine crisis.”
Easter is an important holiday in both Russia and Ukraine, but many Ukrainians expressed immediate skepticism that Russian forces would stop attacking. Bogdan Butkevych, a Ukrainian journalist and radio DJ, said on Facebook that he believed the offer meant more killing would come.
“The goal is to provoke us into responding,” he wrote. “Don’t even think about relaxing or believing this.”
Andrew E. Kramer and Oleksandra Mykolyshyn contributed reporting from Kyiv, Ukraine.
Anton Troianovski is the Moscow bureau chief for The Times. He writes about Russia, Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia.
Kim Barker is a Times reporter writing in-depth stories about the war in Ukraine.
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