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Putin announces truce for Easter: ‘Stop military operations until 21 April’
Russian president orders temporary suspension of hostilities. Exchange of 246 prisoners on each side. CNN sources: Trump ready to recognise Crimea as Russian in peace proposal
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced today, Saturday 19 April, a temporary truce in the war in Ukraine on the occasion of Orthodox Easter. According to Russian news agency Tass, military operations will be suspended from 6pm (Moscow time) today until midnight on 21 April. ‘My order is to stop all military actions for this period,’ the Kremlin chief said during a meeting with Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov.
However, Putin warned that the Russian armed forces will have to remain on high alert for any violations on the Ukrainian side. ‘Our troops must be ready to repel any provocation or aggression by the enemy,’ he stressed, adding that Kiev’s reaction will show whether it ’really wants peace or not.’
Wide exchange of prisoners between Russia and Ukraine
In the same hours, the Russian Defence Ministry announced a new prisoner exchange with Ukraine: 246 Russian soldiers were returned by Kiev and an equal number of Ukrainian prisoners were handed over to Moscow. The communiqué, disseminated via the ministry’s social channels, also announced a further humanitarian initiative: the exchange of 31 wounded Ukrainians for 15 Russian prisoners in need of urgent medical attention.
The US proposal: recognising Crimea as Russian
According to CNN reports, the Trump administration is ready to recognise Russian control of Crimea as part of the US proposal for a conflict resolution. The plan, discussed with European and Ukrainian officials in Paris, would also include a ceasefire along the current front lines.
Crimea has been under Russian control since 2014, following an annexation deemed illegal by the international community. Four other regions (Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia) were partially occupied during the Russian invasion in 2022 and unilaterally annexed by Moscow after unrecognised referendums.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky reiterated in March that Kiev will never accept the loss of occupied territories, calling this the insurmountable ‘red line’ for any negotiations.
Gerasimov: ‘99.5% of the Kursk region regained’
During the meeting with Putin, Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov said that Russian forces had almost entirely regained control of the Kursk region, previously penetrated by the Ukrainian army. ‘Most of the territory has now been liberated: it is 1,260 square kilometres, 99.5 per cent of the occupied area,’ he said.
The announcement comes as Ukrainian incursions along the Russian border continue, fuelling new tensions in a conflict that, despite attempts at mediation, remains far from a final solution.
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(Photo: © AndKronos)
