Ukraine rejects Putin 72-hour truce offer

Kyiv has rejected Vladimir Putin’s offer of a 72-hour truce in honour of the 80th anniversary of the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany in World War II, Ukrainian news agency Interfax reported on Saturday.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky poured scorn on the idea of a three-day truce from 8 May to 10 May, insisting on a 30-day ceasefire instead, Interfax-Ukraine continued, “because it’s impossible to reach any agreements in three, five, or even seven days,” quoting Zelensky.

Zelensky also said that Ukraine could not guarantee the safety of world leaders attending the parade in the Russian capital on 9 May, saying Moscow was capable of “staging incidents involving foreign guests” and then attempting to shift the blame to Ukraine.

Putin declared the 72-hour truce on Monday. “Based on humanitarian considerations … all hostilities will stop during the period,” the Kremlin said. The statement also stressed that if the Ukrainian side violated the truce, Russian forces would “give an adequate and effective response”. It reiterated Russia’s willingness to engage in peace talks to settle what it referred to as the “Ukrainian crisis” and said it expected Ukraine to declare a truce of its own.

The Kremlin had also announced a 30-hour Easter truce between Russia and Ukraine on 19 April, to run from 18:00 that day, Easter Saturday, to 00:00 on 20 April. On that occasion, too, Putin was guided by “humanitarian considerations”. However, both sides accused each other of violating the agreement.

Kyiv was scathing in its comments on the Easter truce, which it saw as a cynical ploy by Moscow to placate US President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly expressed exasperation at the slow progress in establishing a ceasefire between the two warring sides.