Russia and Ukraine are currently engaged in a unique rival-ceasefire declarations amid Russian Victory Day celebrations on May 9.
While, Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday declared a two-day ceasefire in the conflict with Ukraine on May 8-9 to mark Russia’s World War Two victory, his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky counter-proposed his own pause in fighting starting earlier, on the night of May 5‑6.
But Moscow on Thursday bluntly ignored Kyiv ceasefire proposal that would start earlier. It even warned foreign diplomats in Kyiv that if Russia’s May 9 events are targeted, Ukrainian capital of Kyiv might get hit in retaliatory attacks.
“Yes, we are talking about the 8th and 9th of May,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in response to a question by the AFP. While Kyiv said Russian demand for a pause in fighting for Victory day celebrations was ‘utter cynicism’, Peskov’s responded and said, “There was no Russian reaction to this.”
He further said that the Russian security services were preparing for Saturday’s event, “particularly given the terrorist threat” from Ukraine.
‘Ceasefire between May 8-9 not serious’
Zelensky said that holding a ceasefire between May 8-9 so Moscow could mark the celebration was “not serious”, and hit back with his own truce starting midnight.
The Ukrainian leader took to social media platform X and said, “As of today, there has been no official appeal to Ukraine regarding the modality of a cessation of hostilities that is being claimed on Russian social media.”
“We believe that human life is far more valuable than any anniversary ‘celebration’. In this regard, we are announcing a ceasefire regime starting at 00:00 (2100 GMT) on the night of May 5-6,” he added.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga also condemned Moscow’s truce, saying: “Peace cannot wait until ‘parades’ and ‘celebrations'”.
“If Moscow is prepared to end hostilities, it can do so already tomorrow night,” Sybiga posted on X on Monday.
He said Zelensky’s truce was a “serious proposal to end the war and turn to diplomacy”.
Iran-US war delays Russia-Ukraine peace deal
While the United States was actively mediating a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine, who have been in a situation of war since 2022, its own war in the Middle East has put a pause on its peace-brokering efforts.
Meanwhile, as a Iran-US peace deal looks like a reality in the near future, Ukraine’s top negotiator Rustem Umerov is set to meet meet US counterparts in Florida in a bid to revive talks on ending Russia’s invasion, AFP reported quoting Kyiv officials.
US-mediated talks on ending Europe’s worst conflict since World War II have shown little progress since February, when Washington shifted focus to its war with Iran.
“The Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine will hold a series of meetings today with envoys of the President of the United States,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote on X, referring to Umerov.
While the Middle East war did delay Russia-Ukraine peace deal, things weren’t going easy between the two sides as they remained at odds over the key issue of territory. While Ukraine has proposed freezing the conflict along the current front lines, Russia has rejected it as it continues to demand the whole of the Donetsk region.
