Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy declared it will “mirror” Russia’s actions, following the announcement of an Easter ceasefire by his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.
Zelenskyy wrote on X, “If Russia is now suddenly ready to truly engage in a format of full and unconditional silence, Ukraine will act accordingly — mirroring Russia’s actions. Silence in response to silence, defensive strikes in response to attacks.”
He also proposed the truce could be extended beyond the Easter day, should a complete ceasefire take hold. This, the Ukrainian leader said, would reveal Russia’s “true intentions.”
Zelenskyy explained, “30 hours is enough to make headlines, but not for genuine confidence-building measures. Thirty days could give peace a chance.”
He also called out Moscow for not responding to his initial, corresponding proposal for a 30-day full and unconditional truce.
Moscow, Zelenskyy said, “manipulates well,” and, therefore, words coming from there are not to be trusted. For this, he pointed to what he described as Russia’s ongoing assault operations on several frontline sectors.
Putin’s ceasefire announcement comes at a time when the United States has warned it could “walk away” from its push to broker a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine, unless there is some progress soon.
Air raid sirens in Kyiv
Meanwhile, air-raid sirens sounded in Ukraine’s capital Kyiv on Saturday evening, despite the start of the Easter truce.
An air-raid alert message told Kyiv residents to proceed to shelters and sirens were heard shortly before 10:00 pm (1900 GMT) as the air force warned of a “missile threat” in the surrounding Kyiv region, news agency AFP reported.
