The Kremlin said Tuesday it still plans to honor a 72-hour ceasefire unilaterally proposed by President Vladimir Putin during this week’s Victory Day celebrations, despite Ukraine’s rejection of the truce.
Putin ordered the ceasefire from midnight on May 8 through May 11 to mark the 80th anniversary of the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany in World War II.
“President Putin’s initiative on a temporary truce during the holidays remains in force,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
However, he added that Russian forces would “immediately give a proper response” if Ukraine launched attacks during the ceasefire period.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has dismissed the plan, describing it as a hollow gesture ahead of Russia’s annual Red Square military parade on May 9.
Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry warned that foreign troops marching in the parade alongside Russian servicemen would be seen as “sharing responsibility” for Russia’s war.
“To march side by side with them is to share responsibility for the blood of murdered Ukrainian children, civilians and military, not to honor the victory over Nazism,” the ministry said in a statement.
U.S. President Donald Trump appeared to defend the proposed ceasefire on Monday, saying: “It doesn’t sound like much, but it’s a lot if you knew where we started from.”
In March, Putin rejected a U.S.-proposed ceasefire that Zelensky had supported.
AFP contributed reporting.
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