President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia and his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky, have both called for a brief cease-fire in the war to coincide with the Orthodox Easter holiday. The measure could bring a rare pause in the fighting even as peace talks remain stalled.
The cease-fire should begin on Saturday at 4 p.m. in Moscow, and last until the end of the following day, according to the Kremlin announcement on late Thursday night. The Kremlin said it assumed that “the Ukrainian side will follow the example of the Russian Federation.”
Mr. Zelensky responded in a post on social media that Ukraine had already proposed an Easter cease-fire, and that it “will act accordingly.” But it was not immediately clear whether Ukraine had agreed to the exact timeline proposed by the Kremlin.
Russia’s Defense Minister Andrei Belousov and Gen. Valery V. Gerasimov, the chief of Moscow’s war effort in Ukraine, “have been instructed to cease combat operations in all directions for this period,” the Kremlin statement said, noting that “Troops are to be prepared to counter any possible provocations by the enemy, as well as any aggressive actions.”
Whether the cease-fire will hold amid the deep mistrust between Kyiv and Moscow remains to be seen. Each side accused the other of violating a similar truce over Easter last year.
Mr. Zelensky accused Moscow of violating it almost 3,000 times. Russian attacks during the 30-hour period killed at least three people in Ukraine’s southern Kherson region, and injured three more.
Russia, for its part, accused Ukraine of violating the cease-fire almost 5,000 times. Russia’s defense ministry claimed that the Russian military had “strictly observed the cease-fire and remained at previously occupied lines and positions.”
In the current combat conditions, where soldiers face constant surveillance and targeting from drones in the sky around the clock, even a brief cease-fire could give Ukrainian troops a chance to rest and resupply. But even if both sides honor the truce, it is unlikely to serve as a steppingstone toward a longer pause in the fighting.
Peace talks between Ukraine and Russia have stalled since the United States and Israel launched attacks on Iran. Mr. Zelensky, in comments to reporters on Wednesday, said the recent truce agreed between Washington and Tehran could open a window to resume talks. But he also acknowledged that this window could soon close, as the Trump administration turns its attention to domestic politics starting this summer, ahead of the midterm elections.
Meanwhile, the Ukrainian Army has launched waves of strikes against Russian oil infrastructure since the beginning of the Iran war in an attempt to offset the financial windfall the Kremlin is set to receive amid soaring global oil prices and an easing of U.S. sanctions on Russian oil sales. Mr. Zelensky has said Kyiv would stop the strikes only if Moscow similarly halted its attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure.
Kyiv has complained that Washington’s decision to temporarily lift sanctions on Russian oil already at sea by mid-March — a move designed to ease pressure on global oil markets — would help finance Russia’s war effort. The U.S. waiver is set to expire on Saturday, just a few hours before Mr. Putin’s proposed Easter truce, but Ukrainian officials have expressed concern that Washington would extend it given the continued strain on global oil markets.
Valerie Hopkins covers the war in Ukraine and how the conflict is changing Russia, Ukraine, Europe and the United States. She is based in Moscow.
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