Ukraine and Russia have accused each other of defeating the Easter ceasefire thousands, claiming that each cannot trust the day and are not truly interested in peace.
The Russian Federation called an Easter ceasefire over the weekend, saying Ukraine would later “reflect” Russia’s actions and end hostilities if Moscow first moved, and later said it wanted the declaration to extend to a longer, temporary halt of hostility. Ukraine characterized this as “silence for silence.”
However, both sides declare a failure in the Easter ceasefire, each characterizing their approach as noble and the other as hostile and injustice. For example, Kyiv said there were “96 combat conflicts” with 1,882 “attacks on Ukrainian positions” on Easter Sunday. These were from artillery, tactical rockets and drone strikes, they said.
Ukrainian President Voldim Zelensky opposed Moscow, saying “Russia could not support its ceasefire promise.”
Ukraine is worse than maintaining the attack, as it is simply said that a ceasefire was observed by the Russian troops. Ukraine accused Moscow of using his calm in the battle to redeploy ironically, and strengthening its troops for greater profits. Such accusations closely track the broader Ukrainian narratives of why lasting peace with Russia is essentially impossible, and all previous attempts to mediate peace were used to gain breathing spaces to enhance military capabilities for later brutal assaults.
Ukrainian state media cited Andri Kovalenko, head of the Centre for Countering Disinformation in Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council. He said, “This was Russian intent. Wherever the strength of the battle decreased, they used the opportunity to move into reserves and equipment for future attacks.”
Kovalenko said this pattern was previously observed, for example, after the 2014 attacks and the Minsk agreement.
Russia, on their part, denounced the Ukrainians of the same thing. Moscow’s Defense Ministry on Monday accused Ukraine of 4,900 acts of war during the ceasefire, and parliamentary committee chairman Grigory Karasin said:
Reflecting the Ukrainian narrative that Russia’s ceasefire infringement showed that it was unreliable in them and that it was difficult to negotiate in good faith, Karasin returned a comment, saying essentially the exact same about Kiev. He said: “We can emotionally say that it’s inappropriate to do something like that! So, if even a simple short-term commitment is related to mass violations, could a strategic agreement to resolve the Ukrainian crisis be subject to negotiation?”
Of course, the Russian Ministry of Defense argued that all troops had followed the ceasefire ordered by President Vladimir Putin.
Meanwhile, Putin himself said Monday that combat operations had resumed and that Ukraine had only agreed to a ceasefire because the US had put pressure on them. The Russian leader said, “We all saw the first response. They issued a statement dismissing the proposal as a game of rhetoric similar to people’s lives.”
The asymmetric views on the acts of war and the fundamental goodwill of each enemy have emerged, as expected, as important stumbling blocks in the ongoing President-Trump-led peace negotiations. Essentially, both sides claim to be fighting justly and noble, while the other commits war crimes and attack wars.
The merits of each of these claims can be argued, but in terms of bringing the parties to the negotiation table, it undoubtedly led to a process of halt and stumbling that clearly infuriated the US negotiators who expressed their frustration with endless, counterproductive meetings and lack of progress. President Trump’s Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Friday that without solid evidence of progress within days, his principal’s instinct is simply to leave until Ukraine and Russia feel they are willing to approach peace negotiations in good faith.
He said: “We’re here yesterday and we’ll start talking about a more specific overview of what’s needed to end the war and try to get it straight away. I’m talking about whether this is a war that can be ended, not just a few weeks.”
“We’re ready to do everything we can to promote it, if possible, to make sure it happens. Progress means “the president is probably the president at the time when he says, ‘Well, we’re done,'” he said.
