Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a temporary pause in fighting in Ukraine over Easter weekend.
Mr. Putin, citing humanitarian concerns, ordered a short ceasefire that will begin “today from 6 p.m. to midnight from Sunday to Monday.”
“For this period, I order to stop all fighting,” he said in a translated statement. “We assume that the Ukrainian side will follow our example. At the same time, our troops should be prepared to reflect possible violations of the truce and provocations by the enemy, any aggressive actions.”
Following Mr. Putin’s announcement, Russia’s Ministry of Defense said Ukraine returned 246 Russian soldiers in exchange for 246 Ukrainian prisoners of war.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy lauded their return, saying on X, “One of the best pieces of news that can be. … The warriors of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the National Guard of Ukraine, the State Special Transport Service, and the border guards. They defended Mariupol and other directions in the Donetsk, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, and Luhansk regions.”
He added, “I thank everyone who made this return of our people possible. I am especially grateful to the United Arab Emirates for their mediation.”
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He made no mention of the temporary truce in his post, and earlier he said that “air raid alerts are spreading across Ukraine.”
“At 17:15, Russian attack drones were detected in our skies,” Mr. Zelenskyy said. “Ukrainian air defense and aviation have already begun working to protect us. Shahed drones in our skies reveal Putin’s true attitude toward Easter and toward human life.”
The Russian president’s announcement comes on the heels of President Trump’s belief that peace negotiations between Russia and Ukraine were “coming to a head.”
“Now, if for some reason, one of the two parties makes it very difficult, we’re just going to say you’re foolish,” Mr. Trump said. “You are fools, you horrible people. And we’re going to just take a pass. But hopefully, we won’t have to do that.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, a longtime supporter of Ukraine while he served in the Senate, had a darker assessment of the peace negotiations.
He told reporters that if neither side shows progress in stopping the war, the U.S. would quit trying to broker a peace deal.
“We are now reaching a point where we need to decide whether this is even possible or not,” he said. “Because if it’s not, then I think we’re just going to move on. It’s not our war. We have other priorities to focus on.”
