Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy has slammed Vladimir Putin’s suggestion of a three-day ceasefire and claimed it’s a “new attempt at manipulation”.
The Russian leader unilaterally announced a truce from May 8 to coincide with the 80th anniversary of the end of World War 2.
Russia’s annual Victory Day parade, marking the former Soviet Union’s defeat of Nazi Germany, takes place in Moscow on May 9.
Putin’s move followed Donald Trump’s accusation that Russia “maybe doesn’t want to stop the war”, despite the US’s attempts to bring the conflict to a swift conclusion.
But Zelenskyy claimed to see through the Russian leader’s apparent willingness to stop the violence.
He said: “Now there’s a new attempt at manipulation. For some reason, everyone is supposed to wait for May 8 and only then have a ceasefire to ensure calm for Putin during the parade.”
The Ukrainian president also pointed to Russia’s civilian targets on April 28 as proof Russia did not actually want to stop the war.
“We value people’s lives and not parades,” Zelenskyy said. “We believe that the world believes that there is no reason to wait for May 8. And the ceasefire should be not for a few days only to resume the killing afterward.”
Ukrainian officials also pointed out that there was a similar truce over the Easter period – which Moscow then violated.
There has not been a full-scale ceasefire since Russia began its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
In a veiled message to the States and other allies, the Ukrainian leader said it is clear that Moscow must be pressured to end the war.
Putin has been dragging his heels over any peace negotiations and listed a series of demands and “preconditions” before it is willing to talk – including calling for Ukraine to cede all of its occupied territory to Russia.
Russia only lifted its request for “preconditions” earlier this week after Trump began to hit out at Putin’s reluctance.
Kyiv, meanwhile, has called for an unconditional 30-day ceasefire repeatedly – which Moscow has refused.
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