Russian President Vladimir Putin announced an “Easter ceasefire” that will last from 6:00 PM on April 19 to 12:00 AM on April 21. This statement was released by the Kremlin’s press service on April 19. According to Putin, during a meeting with Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov, he emphasized that the Russian side “will halt all hostilities” during this period.
This is reported by Kyiv24
Conditions and Reactions to the Ceasefire Announcement
At the same time, he stated that Russian troops must be prepared to respond to “possible violations of the ceasefire.” The Russian Ministry of Defense stated that the ceasefire will be observed “on the condition of mutual compliance by the Kyiv regime.” Currently, the Ukrainian command has not commented on this statement.
Previously, the Kremlin reported that the Russian president had not issued orders to extend the temporary moratorium on strikes against Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. According to the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, during the month when the ceasefire was supposed to be in effect, Russian forces violated it more than 30 times.
In January 2023, the Russian president instructed the Minister of Defense to implement a ceasefire regime; however, hostilities did not cease. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called this initiative yet another attempt to manipulate diplomacy.