Ukraine and Russia separately announced they will abide by a 32-hour truce to mark Orthodox Easter, as peace negotiations involving the two warring parties and the United States appear to have come to an apparent halt while Washington focuses on its own war with Iran.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on April 9 said Kyiv had repeatedly proposed a holiday cease-fire and that it will "act accordingly" after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his troops to halt fire during the holiday.
"People need an Easter without threats and a real move toward peace, and Russia has a chance not to return to attacks even after Easter,” Zelenskyy said on Telegram.
The truce is set to begin at 4 p.m. on April 11 and run through the end of the day on April 12. Orthodox Christians celebrate Easter on April 12.
The Kremlin said Putin instructed the Russian General Staff "to cease combat operations in all directions for this period," adding that Russia's forces were prepared to "counter any possible provocations by the enemy."
Russia has repeatedly rejected longer-term or indefinite cease-fires, saying a comprehensive deal is needed to end the conflict -- which became an all-out war with the Kremlin’s full-scale invasion of February 2022.
During earlier truces, both sides accused the other of using the time to resupply and redeploy troops.
Efforts to negotiate an end to Russia’s war against Ukraine have slowed to a crawl as the United States focuses on the conflict with Iran.
Despite multiple meetings between Ukrainian, Russian, and US officials, a definitive breakthrough remains elusive, allowing the killing and destruction on both sides to go on.
Fighting on the ground has come to near a standstill, with Russia occasionally capturing additional Ukrainian territory but suffering massive losses in the process. Ukraine has also suffered heavy losses, although neither side regularly discloses casualty figures.
Russia controls an estimated 19 percent of Ukrainian territory, most of it taken early following the February 2022 unprovoked invasion.
While senior US officials have privately signaled their desire to maintain diplomatic momentum, the gap between Kyiv’s demand for security and Moscow’s demand for land remains vast.
