Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russian artillery fire was continuing in Ukraine on Saturday despite the Kremlin’s proclamation of an Easter ceasefire.
“As of now, according to the commander-in-chief reports, Russian assault operations continue on several frontline sectors, and Russian artillery fire has not subsided,” the Ukrainian president posted on X. “Therefore, there is no trust in words coming from Moscow.”
He recalled that Russia had last month rejected a US-proposed full 30-day ceasefire and said that if Moscow agreed to “truly engage in a format of full and unconditional silence, Ukraine will act accordingly – mirroring Russia’s actions”.
“If a complete ceasefire truly takes hold, Ukraine proposes extending it beyond the Easter day of April 20,” Zelenskyy wrote.
Earlier, Vladimir Putin announced an “Easter Truce”, saying that Russian forces would stop combat operations from 6pm Moscow time on Saturday until midnight on Sunday.
In the surprise move, Russia’s president said he was ordering a temporary halt to the fighting out of “humanitarian considerations”. He said he expected Ukraine to follow suit and said this would be a test of whether the “regime” in Kyiv was interested in peace.
