Russia: President Vladimir Putin announces Easter ceasefire

In a video message, President Putin declared the ceasefire. The post shared with the video on X read: "The Russian Side announces an #EasterCeasefire from 06:00 pm today to 00:00 am Monday. This is done for humanitarian reasons. I hereby order all military operations ceased for this period."

https://x.com/mfa_russia/status/1913603324189778016

According to the Russian MFA's official Telegram account, President Putin made the announcement during a meeting at the Kremlin with the Chief of the General Staff of Russia's Armed Forces, Valery Gerasimov.

The post said, "During a meeting at the Kremlin with the Chief of the General Staff of Russia's Armed Forces Valery Gerasimov President Vladimir Putin declared that the Russian Side is ceasing all military action starting April 19, 06:00 pm MSK to April 21, 00:00 am MSK"

The post on Telegram further noted, "Guided by humanitarian motives, the Russian Side announces an Easter ceasefire from 06:00 pm today to 00:00 am Monday. I hereby order all military operations ceased for this period. We assume that the Ukrainian Side will follow our example. At the same time, our forces should be prepared to repel possible ceasefire violations and provocations by the enemy, as well as any aggressive acts on their part."

The ceasefire has been announced amid the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

According to a report by DW, this announcement comes at a time when US President Donald Trump's administration has said it is ready to end truce negotiations in Ukraine soon.

Earlier, in Paris, after holding high-level talks with European, Ukrainian, and Russian officials, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio highlighted the urgency of the situation.

"We need to determine very quickly now, and I'm talking about a matter of days, whether or not this is doable," Rubio told reporters before leaving Paris.

Rubio and special envoy Steve Witkoff met European and Ukrainian partners as part of the Trump administration's effort to end the war, CNN reported.

"If it's not possible, if we're so far apart that this is not going to happen, then I think the president is probably at a point where he's going to say we're done. It's not our war. We didn't start it," Rubio added.