The ceasefire will begin at 4 pm on Saturday and last till Sunday, officials said.

 

Russian President Vladimir Putin issued the directive to Defence Minister Andrei Belousov and Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov on April 9, according to an official Kremlin statement.

 

The order, however, mandates that Russian troops remain prepared to “suppress possible provocations and any aggressive actions by the enemy,” the statement added.

 

“We proceed from the assumption that the Ukrainian side will follow the example of the Russian Federation,” Kremlin officials said.

 

The announcement comes after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had indicated in late March that Kyiv supported a ceasefire for the Easter holidays. At that time, Russian officials said they “did not see a clear initiative” in Zelenskyy’s remarks.Click Here To Follow Our WhatsApp ChannelZelenskyy subsequently sent a formal request to the United States to act as an intermediary for an Easter truce.

 

Scepticism, however, remains high over the viability of such pauses. Last year, Putin had issued a similar order for an Easter ceasefire, but Ukraine reported over 2,000 violations of that truce by Russian forces within a single day.

 

There was no immediate official comment from the Ukrainian side on the Kremlin’s latest declaration.

 

On March 31, the Russian government had dismissed Zelenskyy’s proposal for an Easter “energy truce.” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov had said that Moscow had not received a clearly formulated proposal and that Kyiv was only seeking a pause because Russian forces were advancing across the front line.

 

Although a brief energy truce was brokered earlier this year amid a global energy crisis, the Kremlin had emphasised its preference for a final settlement over a short-term holiday ceasefire. (KNS)