KYIV, April 10 (Reuters) – Ukrainian officials urged Russia on Friday to extend a ceasefire it announced for Orthodox Easter this weekend and restart talks to end the war, but people on the streets of Kyiv remained wary, recalling that previous such truces had been quickly violated.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday announced a 32-hour ceasefire starting on Saturday afternoon and running throughout Orthodox Easter until midnight on Sunday.
Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who has repeatedly proposed an Easter truce, quickly said Kyiv would abide by the measure, which Moscow had previously rejected as a “PR stunt”.
“People need an Easter without threats and a real move towards peace, and Russia has a chance not to return to attacks even after Easter,” he said, in comments posted on Telegram early on Friday.
Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said Ukraine was proposing that strikes should not resume after Easter, and he drew a parallel with the two-week ceasefire in the conflict between the United States, Israel and Iran, announced on Tuesday.
“We believe that a ceasefire is the right strategy to advance diplomatic efforts — whether we are talking about the Middle East or Russian aggression against Ukraine,” he said.
The Kremlin on Friday said the Easter truce was a temporary humanitarian measure, and it wanted a permanent peace deal not a ceasefire, a demand that Ukraine has described as a delaying tactic.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said a visit by Putin’s special investment envoy to the United States was economic and did not signal the resumption of U.S.-mediated peace talks; U.S. sanctions waivers on Russian oil expire on April 11.
Putin has said Russia would be willing to end hostilities if Ukraine hands over the remainder of the industrialised region of Donbas – roughly 6,000 square km (2,317 square miles) – that it has been unable to conquer more than four years since its full-scale invasion. Zelenskiy has said that would betray Ukraine’s defenders and that an aggressor should not dictate such terms.
Amid light snow and wintry weather in Kyiv on Friday morning, residents were skeptical that the truce would do anything to ease their situation. Many expressed hostility toward the Russian leader.
“He can only make promises about some ceasefire. No one is going to hand over our land to him,” said 60-year-old Yuliia, huddled beneath a thick overcoat, as a street thermometer showed 2 degrees Celsius in Kyiv.
Several passersby noted that previous ceasefires had quickly been violated.
Putin’s announcement was similar to a 30-hour ceasefire he ordered last year. Each side accused the other of violating it.
“Every year it’s the same old ‘ceasefire, ceasefire’. Even on one of the New Year’s Eve, when they promised a ceasefire, there was an air raid alarm all night long,” said Varvara, a 17-year-old student who declined to give her second name.
“Well, of course I want to believe it, but no, I don’t think it’s going to happen.”
(Editing by Daniel Flynn and Philippa Fletcher)
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