Russian President Vladimir Putin declared “Easter ceasefire” in the war in Ukraine on Saturday, said that the Russian would stop military action from 6 pm Saturday night to midnight April 21.
Putin said he assumed that “Ukraine will follow our example,” according to a statement in the Kremlin telegram channel. But he also said Russia would respond to “violations of the ceasefire and provocation” by Ukraine, the statement said.
In a statement on Saturday, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy did not say whether Ukraine would approve of a ceasefire or not, but said the proposal “but other efforts by Putin to play with human life” and show that there were still Russian attacks launched in an hour before the Russian ceasefire was intended to be determined.
The proposed ceasefire came as US officials, including State Secretary Marco Rubio, continued to hold talks in Paris this week to discuss ending the war in Ukraine. Rubio said the conversation was “productive” but emphasized that the US was willing to switch from negotiations if they did not produce results.
Russian President Vladimir Putin gave a signal when speaking with Alexander Troufanov, Yelena Troufanova and Sapir Cohen, who were released from the Hamas Defense, during their meeting in Kremlin, in Moscow, Russia, April 16, 2025.
Sofia Sandurskaya/Sputnik via AP
“We need to find out here, now in a matter of days, whether this can be done in the short term, because if not, then I think we will only move,” Rubio said on the foundation when he left France on Friday morning.
Then, in the White House, President Donald Trump echoed Rubio’s statement – said that the US would make a determination “very short.”
After Rubio’s public comments, Moscow gave a signal that it was not rushed to reach an agreement.
This development also came as one of the indicators of the 30-day weapons potential progress intended to stop for a moment on the target of the energy-after-exposure infrastructure, without news from Putin about whether Moscow will restart the attack on the target.
Both Russia and Ukraine have accused each other repeatedly violating the agreement, which was mediated by Trump’s administration last month.
This is a developing story. Re -check for updates.
ABC News’ Shannon Kingston contributed to this report.