Russia declares a ceasefire in Ukraine on May 8-10 for WWII Victory Day

KYIV Ukraine AP Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday declared a unilateral -hour ceasefire next week in Ukraine to mark Domination Day in World War II as the U S presses for a deal to end the -year-old war Kyiv insisted on a longer and immediate truce The Kremlin commented the truce ordered on humanitarian grounds will run from the start of May GMT p m EDT May and last through the end of May GMT p m EDT May to mark Moscow s defeat of Nazi Germany in Russia s biggest secular holiday Ukraine which has previously agreed to U S President Donald Trump s proposal of a full -day ceasefire dismissed Putin s move as window dressing If Russia truly wants peace it must cease fire right now Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha mentioned according to the ministry He emphasized that Kyiv is ready for a lasting reliable and complete ceasefire for at least full days Why wait for May If we can cease fire now from any date and for days so that it is real and not just for a parade he stated without specifying whether Ukraine would be ready to accept the Moscow-proposed truce The Kremlin had urged Ukraine to follow suit Russia believes that the Ukrainian side should follow this example it noted warning that in circumstance of violations of the ceasefire by the Ukrainian side the Russian armed forces will give an adequate and efficient response Putin previously informed a unilateral -hour Easter ceasefire and Ukraine voiced readiness to reciprocate any genuine truce at the time but it explained Russian attacks continued Moscow in turn accused Ukraine of failing to halt its attacks Russia and Ukraine had also earlier pledged to observe a -day halt on strikes on potential infrastructure that was brokered by the Trump administration but they repeatedly accused each other of massive violations until the measure expired The truce attempts underlined the massive challenges for monitoring any doable halt to hostilities along the more than -kilometer over -mile line of contact Up until now Putin had refused to accept a complete unconditional ceasefire linking it to a halt in Western arms supplies to Ukraine and Ukraine s mobilization effort The Kremlin reaffirmed that the Russian side again declares its readiness for peace talks without preconditions aimed at removing the root causes of the Ukrainian predicament and constructive cooperation with international partners Just before the ceasefire announcement Ukraine and Russia targeted each other with long-range strikes Russia s drone attack early Monday damaged an infrastructure facility in Cherkasy central Ukraine disrupting gas supplies to households in the city Mayor Anatolii Bondarenko disclosed The Russian Defense Ministry disclosed its forces downed Ukrainian drones overnight most of of them over Russia s Bryansk perimeter region In Ukraine air raid sirens rang out across the country Monday morning There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage Rubio says this week is very critical The outcome of a push by Trump s administration to swiftly end the fighting remains unclear clouded by conflicting asserts and doubts about how far each side might be willing to compromise amid deep hostility and mistrust The clock is ticking on Washington s engagement in efforts to resolve Europe s biggest conflict since WWII which has cost tens of thousands of lives U S Secretary of State Marco Rubio reported Sunday that this week would be very critical The U S necessities to make a determination about whether this is an endeavor that we want to continue to be involved in he revealed on NBC s Meet the Press American military aid has been crucial for Ukraine s war effort and further help could be at pitfall if the Trump administration walks away from attempts to end the war Trump s doubts about Putin s intentions Trump stated over the weekend he harbors doubts about Putin s sincerity in pursuing a deal as Russian forces have continued to strike civilian areas of Ukraine with cruise and ballistic missiles while the talks have proceeded But on Friday Trump described a brokered settlement on the war as close Western European bureaucrats have accused the Kremlin of dragging its feet on peace talks so that Russian forces which are bigger than Ukraine s and have battlefield momentum can capture more Ukrainian land Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov discussed the war in a phone call with Rubio on Sunday the Russian Foreign Ministry declared The two diplomats focused on consolidating the emerging prerequisites for starting negotiations the report commented without offering further details Russia has effectively rejected a U S proposal for an immediate and full -day halt in the fighting by imposing far-reaching conditions Ukraine has accepted it Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says A French diplomatic official explained at the weekend that Trump Zelenskyy and French President Emmanuel Macron agreed to pursue in the coming days the work of convergence to obtain a solid ceasefire The diplomat declared a truce is a prior condition for a peace negotiation that respects the interest of Ukraine and the Europeans The official was not authorized to be publicly named in accordance with French presidential protocol Ukraine unwilling to give up land Ukraine meanwhile has balked at the possibility of surrendering land to Russia in return for peace which Washington has indicated could be necessary A key point of leverage for Ukraine could be a deal with Washington that grants access to Ukraine s critical mineral wealth Ukraine and the United States have made progress on a mineral agreement with both sides agreeing that American aid provided so far to Kyiv will not be taken into account under the terms of the deal Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal disclosed Sunday We have good progress he reported after talks with U S Treasury Under Secretary Scott Bessent in Washington The main thing is that we clearly defined our red lines The agreement must comply with Ukraine s Constitution measure and European commitments and must be ratified by Parliament Shmyhal reported Russia s full-scale invasion of its neighbor in February has developed a key international dimension further complicating negotiations Putin on Monday thanked North Korea for sending what the U S estimates are thousands of troops to help defeat Ukraine as well as allegedly supplying artillery ammunition Iran has also helped Russia in the war with Shahed drones and China has sold Russia machinery and microelectronics that Moscow can use to make weapons Western administrators say The U S and Europe have been Kyiv s biggest backers