Russia’s President Vladimir Putin has announced a 32-hour ceasefire for Orthodox Easter, with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirming that Ukraine will honour it. The Kremlin said on Thursday that the pause in fighting will begin at 4pm Moscow time ( ) on Saturday and run until midnight on Sunday, covering Easter celebrations observed in both countries. It added that Defence Minister Andrei Belousov had instructed Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov to halt military operations during the period.
Russian forces, however, would remain ready to respond to any violations. Zelenskyy said Ukraine had already proposed a similar pause and would act in kind. We proposed a ceasefire during the Easter holiday this year and will act accordingly,” he wrote on Telegram.
This weekend’s planned ceasefire echoes a similar, short-lived pause declared by Moscow last year, which both sides accused each other of breaching. The ceasefire comes as wider diplomatic efforts to end the war remain stalled, with attention in Washington shifting towards escalating tensions in the Middle East. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow had not discussed the Easter proposal in advance with the United States, nor did it signal any immediate revival of three-way peace talks.
The Kremlin added that a visit by President Putin’s special investment envoy to the US does not signal a resumption of negotiations on a possible peace deal for Ukraine. reported on Thursday that envoy Kirill Dmitriev was in the US meeting members of President Donald Trump’s administration to discuss a potential peace deal for Ukraine as well as US-Russia economic cooperation. Speaking from Moscow, Al Jazeera’s Yulia Shapovalova said the two sides recently carried out another exchange of soldiers’ remains. These exchanges, often mediated by Turkiye, remain one of the few functioning lines of communication between the warring sides, alongside periodic prisoner swaps.
Zelenskyy has repeatedly pushed for temporary ceasefires, including a halt to attacks on energy infrastructure, but said Moscow had largely rejected proposals. He added that Ukraine now faces growing pressure, both on the battlefield and from international partners. There may be pressure on Ukraine,” Zelenskyy said.
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