Putin announces surprise three-day ceasefire in Ukraine next week to coincide with VE Day
by Jane Moore, https://www.thejournal.ie/author/jane-moore/ · TheJournal.ieRUSSIAN PRESIDENT VLADIMIR Putin has announced a surprise three-day ceasefire in Ukraine next week.
The ceasefire will be in place from 8 to 10 May, coinciding with Moscow’s World War II Victory Day commemorations.
“Russia believes that the Ukrainian side should follow this example. In the event of violations of the truce by the Ukrainian side, the Russian armed forces will give an adequate and effective response,” the Kremlin said.
It comes after US President Donald Trump urged Putin to “stop shooting” and “sign a deal” to end the three-year conflict.
The US has been trying to broker a lasting ceasefire between Moscow and Kyiv but has failed to extract any major concessions from the Kremlin, despite repeated negotiations between his administration and Russian officials.
Putin last month rejected a US proposal for a full and unconditional 30-day ceasefire that had been accepted by Ukraine.
Kyiv and its European backers accused Putin of announcing the 30-hour Easter truce as a PR exercise and said he had little desire for peace.
On Saturday, Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy held ad-hoc talks on the sidelines of the funeral of Pope Francis.
Following the meeting in Vatican City, Trump took to his Truth Social platform to criticise Putin for the Russian strikes on Kyiv last week that killed 12 people.
‘Tapping me along’
“There was no reason for Putin to be shooting missiles into civilian areas, cities and towns, over the last few days,” he said.
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“It makes me think that maybe he doesn’t want to stop the war, he’s just tapping me along, and has to be dealt with differently, through “Banking” or “Secondary Sanctions?” Too many people are dying!!!”.
Speaking yesterday, Trump told reporters: “I want [Putin] to stop shooting, sit down, and sign a deal. We have the confines of a deal, I believe, and I want him to sign it.”
He also said he believed Zelenskyy was ready to concede Crimea to Russia as part of any ceasefire deal.
Russian missiles have killed dozens of civilians over the last month in large-scale strikes on Zelenskyy’s home city of Kryvyi Rig, the northeastern city of Sumy and the capital Kyiv.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio stressed the importance of the week ahead.
“We’re close, but we’re not close enough” to a deal to halt the fighting, Rubio told NBC News yesterday. “I think this is going to be a very critical week.”
Washington has not revealed details of its peace plan, but has suggested freezing the front line and accepting Russian control of Crimea in exchange for an end to hostilities.
Russia claims to have annexed four eastern and southern territories of war-battered Ukraine since its full-scale invasion three years ago, despite not having full military control over them.
Crimea
Russia holds about 20% of Ukraine’s territory, including Crimea, which it annexed in 2014. Ukrainian politicians and the public are firmly opposed to giving up Crimea.
Earlier today, Russia said it was ready to negotiate directly with Ukraine, but that recognition of its claims over five Ukrainian regions including Crimea were “imperative” to resolving the conflict.
Ukraine has denounced the annexations as an illegal land grab and says it will never recognise them, while European officials have warned that accepting Moscow’s demands set a dangerous precedent that could lead to future Russian aggression.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in an interview with Brazilian newspaper O Globo published today that “we remain open to negotiations.”
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“But the ball is not in our court. So far, Kyiv has not demonstrated its ability to negotiate,” he said, adding Moscow’s position on the conflict was “well-known”.
“International recognition of Russia’s ownership of Crimea, Sevastopol, the Donetsk People’s Republic, the Lugansk People’s Republic, the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions is imperative,” he said, using the Kremlin’s names for the Ukrainian regions.
Zelenskyy said last Friday that Ukraine would “not legally recognise any temporarily occupied territories”, and has previously called the demilitarisation demand “incomprehensible”.
Kursk retaken
Russia and Ukraine have not held direct talks on the fighting since the start of Moscow’s offensive in 2022.
Early Monday, a Russian attack on a Ukrainian village near the frontline city of Pokrovsk killed a married couple and another local resident, regional prosecutors said.
Meanwhile, Russia over the weekend announced it had taken full control of its Kursk region with the help of North Korean troops, more than eight months after Kyiv launched a cross-border ground assault.
Putin thanked North Korean leader Kim Jong Un today for help with the operation, which has denied Kyiv a key bargaining chip in future talks with Moscow.
The Russian army said it had taken control of the village of Kamianka in the northeastern Kharkiv region, in its latest battlefield advance.
With reporting from © AFP 2025
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