KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday declared a unilateral 72-hour ceasefire next week in Ukraine to mark Victory Day in World War II as the U.S. presses for a deal to end the 3-year-old war. Kyiv insisted on a longer and immediate truce.
The Kremlin said the truce, ordered on “humanitarian grounds,” will run from the start of May 8 and last through the end of May 10 to mark Moscow’s defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945 — Russia’s biggest secular holiday.
Ukraine, which has previously agreed to U.S. President Donald Trump’s proposal of a full 30-day ceasefire, dismissed Putin’s move as window dressing.
“If Russia truly wants peace, it must cease fire immediately,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said, according to the ministry. He emphasized that Kyiv is ready for a “lasting, reliable, and complete ceasefire” for at least 30 full days.
“Why wait for May 8? If we can cease fire now from any date and for 30 days — so that it is real, and not just for a parade,” he said without specifying whether Ukraine would be ready to accept the Moscow-proposed truce.