Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia, extended his unilateral, month-long ceasefire on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure by 30 hours over the weekend.
During that time, Russian and Ukrainian long-distance attacks stopped, and Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the president of Ukraine, suggested extending the truce for at least 30 days.
Zelenskyy’s attitude toward Putin was reflected in Zelenskyy’s rejection of the offer, which stated that Putin wasn’t serious about a ceasefire.
“Some areas of the front line remained quiet over the Easter holiday without any air raid alerts.” This demonstrates that it is possible when Russia chooses to lessen the killing, Zelenskyy said in a Monday evening speech at night.
Russia is also the party who is best positioned to end the war, according to Ukraine, who has consistently maintained that as the aggressor.
According to Zelenskyy, Russia broke with its own Easter ceasefire on the ground. He reported on social media on Sunday evening that “67 Russian assaults have already been carried out against our positions.” Russia has failed to uphold its own promise of a ceasefire in practice, across all of the main front-line positions.
However, Zelenskyy stated that Ukraine “proposes to cease any strikes using long-range drones and missiles on civilian infrastructure for at least 30 days with the possibility of extension” given the successful suspension of long-range attacks.
Putin stated to journalists on Monday, “The fighting has resumed.”
He said, “We have always had a positive attitude toward the ceasefire, which is why we took this initiative.” We now know that the Kyiv regime is trying to take the initiative and talk about expanding, according to a statement that was published in which our proposal was viewed as a game with fates and people’s lives.
Putin claimed that Russia was using 4, 900 ceasefire “violations” including “90 attempts to strike” unmanned aerial vehicles during its “tithe.”
repositioning forces
According to Anastasia Blyshchyk, the representative of Ukraine’s 66th Separate Mechanized Brigade defending the eastern town of Lyman, Russia continued to use its self-imposed truce to reposition its forces.
We witnessed how they deployed their RPGs and machine guns alongside their infantry to the front line. During this period of the so-called Easter truce, over 120 Russian occupiers were dispersed through plantings, forest belts, destroyed structures, and dugouts. The Russians launched a massive infantry offensive as soon as the so-called Easter truce came to an end, Blyshchyk told Ukrainian public broadcaster Suspilne.
In order to prepare for upcoming offensives, company commander Denys Perch claimed that Russian forces cleared pontoons and other crossings along the river that surrounded Lyman from Russian positions of damaged vehicles. He claimed that they needed to take a pause to perform a few actions that we typically forbid them from doing.
Russian forces carried out “manoeuvres under the nose, which at the same time looked like assaults, but came as if under a white flag,” according to Viktor Tregubov, spokesman for the Khortytsia group of forces in the east, according to the United News telethon, one of Ukaine’s wartime pool of television channels. They appeared to be trying to incite visual fire violations in the first place. so that we could launch an assault before striking it.
Zelenskyy stated in his Monday address that: “Russia has rejected both the US proposal for a full and unconditional ceasefire, which was made more than a month ago during the discussions in Jeddah, and the proposal to continue doing everything possible to maintain the ceasefire after Easter. This all demonstrates once more what Moscow really wants.
Ukraine is still attempting to bridge allies.
President Trump and the United States want this war to end, and they have now laid out the steps to a peaceful resolution, according to US State Department spokesman Tammy Bruce in a statement last week. Peace is possible if all parties commit to reaching an agreement, according to the encouraging response from Paris to the US framework.
Bruce referred to separate meetings that the Ukrainian delegation and US and European officials had last week in Paris.
Yulia Svyrydenko, the deputy prime minister of Ukraine, made the announcement on April 17 that Ukraine had “signed a statement of intent” with the US to reach an agreement “that will benefit both our peoples,” referring to Trump’s ongoing campaign to exploit Ukraine’s mineral wealth.
Andriy Yermak, the head of Zelenskyy’s office, Rustem Umerov, the defense minister, and Andrii Sybiha, the heads of the French, British, and German governments, met at the Elysee Palace in Paris on the same day to discuss a ceasefire and possible security guarantees.
Zelenskyy described the discussions as “preparing a new security architecture – all the specifics of how a partner security contingent in Ukraine can function” to Ukrainians.
Zelenskyy met Brian Fitzpatrick, co-chair of the US Congressional Ukraine Caucus, while his negotiators were in Paris.
According to Fitzpatrick, many Republicans were supportive of Ukraine, and it would be supported overwhelmingly once a bill passed.
You should know that you have strength because of people like us, and that we are willing to make those difficult decisions in your support, Fitzpatrick said as these negotiations are moving back and forth.
Trump has publicly opposed further military aid to Ukraine, and he even pressured lawmakers to delay a $60 billion aid bill by six months before winning the election.
Ukraine announced last Friday that it would start nationwide national resistance training centers.
Veterans will reportedly teach a program created by Ukraine’s military reserve, the Territorial Defence Forces.
It was unclear whether the training would involve military-related combat, support positions, or other duties to support civil-military infrastructure.
