Russian President Vladimir Putin has declared a short-term ceasefire in the ongoing conflict with Ukraine to mark the Christian celebration of Easter.
The truce, which begins Saturday evening, is expected to last until midnight on Sunday.
“Today from 1800 (1500 GMT) to midnight Sunday (2100 GMT Sunday), the Russian side announces an Easter truce,” Putin said during televised remarks to Russian Chief of Staff Valery Gerasimov.
The decision comes amid continued efforts by former U.S. President Donald Trump, who has been pushing both Russia and Ukraine to agree to a temporary halt in hostilities.
However, those efforts have yet to result in any meaningful concessions from the Kremlin.
Putin described the move as a humanitarian gesture.
“I order for this period to stop all military action,” he stated, calling it “based on humanitarian reasons.”
Easter, a significant occasion for Christians across the globe, will be observed this Sunday.
Putin expressed hope that Ukraine would also honor the ceasefire, though he instructed Russian forces to remain vigilant.
“We are going on the basis that the Ukrainian side will follow our example, while our troops must be ready to resist possible breaches of the truce and provocations by the enemy, any aggressive actions,” he warned.
The Russian president also accused Ukraine of repeatedly violating prior understandings.
“More than 100 times… breached an agreement on not striking energy infrastructure,” Putin said, quoting Gerasimov.
Just a day earlier, Moscow officially ended a self-imposed moratorium on targeting Ukrainian energy systems.
Both Russia and Ukraine have accused each other of violating an informal agreement regarding these critical facilities.
Putin suggested that this ceasefire could serve as a test of Ukraine’s sincerity in engaging with future diplomatic efforts.
“The latest truce proposal will show how sincere is the Kyiv’s regime’s readiness, its desire and ability to observe agreements and participate in a process of peace talks,” he said.
This is not the first time ceasefire efforts have surfaced around religious holidays.
Similar proposals during Easter in April 2022 and Orthodox Christmas in January 2023 collapsed due to a lack of mutual agreement.
