As Christians in Eastern Europe prepared to mark Orthodox Easter, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a temporary ceasefire-an overture ostensibly meant to allow for a solemn religious observance. The truce, spanning 30 hours from 6:00 pm on April 19 to midnight on April 21, was meant to pause hostilities during one of the holiest periods in the Orthodox calendar. However, the brief respite immediately became the latest flashpoint in a war defined by mutual distrust and broken promises.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky responded to the ceasefire declaration with a mixture of skepticism and a conditional counterproposal. While not outright rejecting the idea of a ceasefire, Zelensky called for a more meaningful, extended truce-on the condition that Russia genuinely adheres to a cessation of hostilities. “If Russia is now suddenly ready to really join the format of complete and unconditional ceasefire, Ukraine will act in a reciprocal way,” he stated on social media, emphasizing a policy of “silence in response to silence, strikes in response to strikes.”

The language of the Ukrainian leader revealed deep-seated doubts about Moscow’s motives. Zelensky accused Russia of continuing “assault activities” on various unspecified parts of the front line even after Putin’s ceasefire had supposedly taken effect. In his view, the offer from Moscow may be less about religious observance and more about public relations optics or an attempt to regroup under the guise of peace. He earlier characterized the ceasefire proposal as an attempt to “play with human........

© Blitz