Russia-Ukraine War: President Putin Announces 'Easter Truce' Till Midnight On Sunday

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday announced a temporary 'Easter Truce' amid the ongoing conflict with Ukraine. As per media reports, Putin in his official statement mentioned that the truce would be in place from Saturday evening till midnight on Sunday.

“Guided by humanitarian considerations, today from 18:00 to 00:00 from Sunday to Monday, the Russian side declares an Easter truce. I order that all military actions be stopped for this period,” Putin said at a meeting with Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov, the Kremlin라이브 바카라 Press Service quoted him as saying.

According to CNN, there was no immediate response from Ukraine regarding the temporary ceasefire.

Earlier, agreeing to the United States' 30-day ceasefire, Moscow placed a number of conditions on it. While Ukraine last month said yes to the US-brokered proposal, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the “ball is now in their [Russia라이브 바카라] court”.

Putin's truce announcement came amid a proposal from the United States that was presented to European leaders during secretary of state Marco Rubio's visit to Paris this week.

The Russian leader added that he assumed Ukraine would follow Russia's example, but also directed Gerasimov to keep the Russian troops ready to repel any violations of the truce by Kyiv.

“We assume that the Ukrainian side will follow our example. At the same time, our troops must be ready to repel possible violations of the truce and provocations from the enemy, any of its aggressive actions,” Putin said.

The Russian president also added that the latest truce proposal would show "how sincere is the Kyiv's regime's readiness, its desire and ability to observe agreements and participate in a process of peace talks", as per a report by NDTV

In the televised meeting, the military chief told Putin that Russian troops had retaken over 99 percent of the territory seized by Ukraine in the Kursk region in an incursion launched in August.

"In the areas of the Kursk region where the Ukrainian armed forces mounted an incursion, the main part of the territory... is now liberated. That's 1,260 square kilometres, 99.5 percent," Gerasimov said in the meeting.

The truce announcement came on the same day as Russia's Defense Ministry claimed that its forces pushed Ukrainian forces from one of their last remaining footholds in Russia's Kursk region.

Trump Threatens Russia With Oil Sanctions

Back in March, US President Donald Trump said he was "pissed off" with his Russian counterpart Putin for delaying the Ukraine ceasefire. As per reports, Trump had warned of fresh sanctions against Russian oil if Moscow tried to block the truce deal to end the Ukraine war.

As per NBC News, Trump stated he was "very angry" and "pissed off" with Putin after the Russian leader criticised the credibility of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Trump's remarks come after Putin suggested that Ukraine could be placed "under a form of external governance" that would allow for new elections and Zelenskyy's ouster.

"If Russia and I are unable to make a deal on stopping the bloodshed in Ukraine, and if I think it was Russia라이브 바카라 fault ... I am going to put secondary tariffs on oil, on all oil coming out of Russia,” Trump said.

He added that there will be a 25 percent tariff on all oil. "That would be, that if you buy oil from Russia, you can’t do business in the United States,” Trump added.

Despite the tariff threat, Trump added that he and Putin "share a good relationship."