Putin orders brief ceasefire next week. Ukraine calls for immediate, longer truce : NPR
Rescue workers stand near a destroyed building, where roses are placed in Kyiv, Ukraine, in tribute to the victims of the Russian rocket attack the day before, on April 24.
Danylo Antoniuk/Anadolu via Getty Images
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Danylo Antoniuk/Anadolu via Getty Images
MOSCOW and KYIV — Russian President Vladimir Putin has declared a three-day ceasefire in Ukraine next week to honor the 80th anniversary of the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany in World War II.
A statement posted on the Kremlin website said Putin has ordered a halt in Russian military activity, for “humanitarian reasons,” starting May 8 at midnight and lasting three days for Victory Day, a solemn holiday marked by both Russia and Ukraine.
Ukraine’s foreign minister, Andrii Sybiha, responded repeating Kyiv’s readiness to immediately adhere to a monthlong ceasefire, instead of a brief truce just to mark V-Day.
“Why wait until May 8th?” Sybiha said on X. “If the fire can be ceased now and since any date for 30 days—so it is real, not just for a parade. Ukraine is ready to support a lasting, durable, and full ceasefire … for at least 30 days.”
Russia previously announced an Easter truce, which both Moscow and Kyiv said failed to hold.
Before that, Ukraine had agreed unconditionally to a U.S.-brokered, 30-day ceasefire proposal. Russia did not sign on — with President Putin insisting Ukraine could use the period to rearm and remobilize. Ukraine says Russian attacks on Ukrainian cities increased after the U.S. proposed that ceasefire deal.
But on Monday, the Kremlin called on Ukraine to follow Russia’s “example” with a Victory Day ceasefire, while warning that the Russian military would remain on alert. “In the event of a violation of the ceasefire by the Ukrainian side, the armed forces of Russia would give an adequate and effective response,” the statement said.
It comes as the Trump administration says negotiations to end the war are at a “critical” week — and the president’s patience is running thin.
President Trump “is increasingly frustrated with leaders of both countries. He wants to see a permanent ceasefire,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said.
On Saturday, Trump again called out Russia’s latest attacks on Ukraine. “There was no reason for Putin to be shooting missiles into civilian areas, cities and towns, over the last few days,” he wrote on the Truth Social platform. “It makes me think that maybe he doesn’t want to stop the war, he’s just tapping me along, and has to be dealt with differently, through ‘Banking’ or ‘Secondary Sanctions?’ Too many people are dying!!!”
Alex Leff contributed reporting from Washington, D.C.
