-
Russian President Vladimir Putin [announces an "Easter truce’’ in Ukraine according to reports
-
Putin says there will be a temporary end to hostilities from 18:00 Moscow time (16:00 BST) today until midnight on 21 April (22:00 BST)
-
Putin adds he assumes Ukraine will follow the truce and [Russian troops are ready to repel any possible violations
-
It is unclear whether Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has accepted the terms of the truce
-
This comes after US President Donald Trump threatened to “pass” on Ukraine peace talks if no progress was made on a deal
Because given Russias track record, they lie about stopping with fighting. Multiple times.
So slap me silly for being skeptical.
Only a fool would trust Putin to honor a cease fire, so even if it’s true and is honored, no Ukrainian is going to be able to relax. Meaningless gesture backed by a history of breaking such agreements.
It’s just bait anyway. If they don’t break it themselves (very likely to, given their history), they truce and then if Ukraine attacks, they go “look Ukraine attacked us when we wanted a truce!”. If Ukraine does nothing, Russia get the breather to move troops, resupply etc.
If Ukraine wants a breather they can agree to it knowing they need to stay alert for the Russians to break it.
If Ukraine doesn’t want to play that game, they can just say “we’ll agree to a ceasefire when you leave Ukraine permanently” and carry on.
You don’t agree to a truce that you weren’t involved in arranging.