Russia’s Vladimir Putin Announces ‘Easter Truce’ In Ukraine Special Military Operation

Last Updated:April 19, 2025, 20:16 IST

Russian President Vladimir Putin Announces Easter Ceasefire In Ukraine

Russian President Vladimir Putin enters a hall for a meeting at the Kremlin in Moscow. (IMAGE: AFP)

Russian President Vladimir Putin has announced an Easter ceasefire into his three-year-old special military operation in Ukraine, according to news agency Associated Press.

“Today from 1800 (1500 GMT) to midnight Sunday (2100 GMT Sunday), the Russian side announces an Easter truce," Putin said in televised comments, while speaking to Russian chief of staff Valery Gerasimov.

The ceasefire will start Saturday evening and last till midnight on Sunday.

Easter, a major holiday for Christians, is celebrated on Sunday.

“I order for this period to stop all military action," Putin said, calling the truce “based on humanitarian reasons".

“We are going on the basis that the Ukrainian side will follow our example, while our troops must be ready to resist possible breaches of the truce and provocations by the enemy, any aggressive actions," Putin said.

He said that Gerasimov had told him Ukraine “more than 100 times… breached an agreement on not striking energy infrastructure".

The announcement came as Russian forces pushed Ukrainian soldiers from one of their last remaining footholds in Russia’s Kursk region.

Gerasimov said troops had retaken over 99 percent of territory seized by Ukraine in the Kursk region in an incursion launched in August.

“In the areas of the Kursk region where the Ukraine armed force mounted an incursion, the main part of the territory… is now liberated. That’s 1,260 square kilometres, 99.5 percent," Gerasimov told Putin in the televised meeting.

The announcement also comes after the US agreed to make concessions with respect to the Crimean peninsula.

A report by broadcaster CNN released earlier this week said that the US President Donald Trump’s administration is ready to recognize Russian control of Crimea.

The announcement also comes days before the Trump administration prepares to sign a minerals deal with the Ukrainian government.

The US President and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy earlier this week said that the nations could sign a deal that grants US corporations access to Ukrainian mineral resources.

Trump has advocated for a deal granting the United States privileged access to Ukraine’s natural resources and critical minerals, which he considers repayment for military aid provided by Washington to Ukraine during Joe Biden’s presidency.

Moscow, Russia

News world Russia’s Vladimir Putin Announces ‘Easter Truce’ In Ukraine Special Military Operation