Russia-Ukraine Easter Truce Fails

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a temporary Easter ceasefire in Ukraine on Saturday. But by Sunday he had violated the agreement more than 3,000 times, with increased shelling and 96 assaults on Ukrainian positions, Ukrainian authorities said. Russia claims it was Ukraine that violated the truce.

Putin ordered all military action to cease between 6 p.m. Saturday to midnight Sunday, Moscow time. The two sides also carried out the largest prisoner swap of the war: Russia received 246 servicemen; Ukraine, 277 men.

U.S. backing out? The announcement came a day after United States President Donald Trump said America was ready to walk away from negotiations if Russia and Ukraine didn’t make progress toward a peace agreement.

If, for some reason, one of the two parties makes it very difficult, we’re just going to say: “You’re foolish. You’re fools. You’re horrible people,” and we’re going to just take a pass. But hopefully we won’t have to do that.
—Donald Trump

Violations: On Sunday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that by 12 a.m. Sunday, in addition to Russian assaults, there were 1,882 instances of shelling and over 950 drone attacks.

Russia’s Defense Ministry claimed Ukraine also violated the truce with 444 accounts of gunfire on Russian positions and over 900 Ukrainian drone attacks.

Regular fighting between the two sides has resumed.

Trump still hopeful: Following the failed truce, President Trump posted on Truth Social that he still hopes Russia and Ukraine will make a deal this week.

President Trump repeatedly said he would end the Russia-Ukraine war within 24 hours of being elected, even before taking office. He has since said those comments were a “little bit sarcastic” but that he would still push hard to settle the war.

To understand why his efforts have been unsuccessful, read “Does Donald Trump Know the Way to Peace?”