Ukrainians, Russians doubt Easter truce will bring peace

Ukrainian officials urged Russia to ⁠extend a ceasefire it announced for Orthodox Easter this weekend and restart talks to end the war, but people on the streets of Kyiv and Moscow doubted it would lead to lasting peace.

Russian President Vladimir Putin yesterday announced a 32-hour ceasefire starting tomorrow afternoon and running throughout Orthodox Easter until midnight on Sunday.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who has repeatedly proposed an Easter truce, quickly said Kyiv would abide by the measure, which Moscow had previously rejected as a "PR stunt".

"People need an Easter without threats and a real move towards peace, and Russia has a chance not to return to attacks even after Easter," Mr Zelensky said in comments posted on Telegram early today.

Putin envoy visits United States

Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said ‌Ukraine was proposing that strikes should not resume ⁠after Easter, and he drew a parallel with the two-week ceasefire in the conflict between the United States, Israel and Iran, announced on Tuesday.

"We believe that a ceasefire is the right strategy to advance diplomatic efforts - whether we are talking about the Middle East or Russian aggression against Ukraine," he said.

The Kremlin said the Easter truce was a temporary humanitarian measure, and it wanted a permanent peace deal, not a ceasefire, a demand that Ukraine ‌has described as a delaying tactic.

Previous such truces have been beset with violations.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said a visit by Mr Putin's special investment envoy to the United States was economic and did not ⁠signal the resumption of US-mediated peace talks; US sanctions waivers on Russian oil expire on 11 April.

Mr Putin has said Russia would ‌be willing to end hostilities if Ukraine hands over the remainder of the industrialised region of Donbas - roughly ⁠6,000sq/km - that it has been unable to conquer more than four years since its full-scale invasion.

Mr Zelensky has said that would betray Ukraine's defenders and that an aggressor should not dictate such terms.

Amid light snow and wintry weather in Kyiv this morning, residents were sceptical that the truce would do anything to ease their situation.

⁠Many expressed hostility toward the Russian leader. "He can only make promises about some ceasefire. No one is going to hand over our land to ⁠him," said 60-year-old Yuliia, huddled beneath a thick overcoat, as a street thermometer showed two degrees in Kyiv.

Several passersby noted violations of previous ceasefires, such as a 30-hour ceasefire Mr Putin ordered at Easter last year.

Moscow residents expressed cautious optimism, but said they doubted the ceasefire would lead to a lasting peace.

"So, they agreed to a ceasefire? Well, let's put it this way: God willing, that’s how it will be," said Irina, a sales manager in Moscow.

"But so far, there’s no real sense that things will improve anytime soon."

Galina, a teacher, ‌said she yearned for peace. "I just want all this to end," she said.

Zelensky calls for reinstatement of Russia oil sanctions

Mr Zelensky has said he wants energy sanctions to be reinstated on Russia following a US-Iran ceasefire agreement that should reopen the Strait of Hormuz waterway, vital to global energy supplies.

"Now a ceasefire is beginning in the Middle East and the Gulf. And I am waiting for sanctions on Russian oil to be fully reimposed, as they were before," Mr Zelensky said.

The United States eased some oil sanctions on Russia last month to tackle surging energy costs caused by the Middle East war. Kyiv and its allies warned the move could help fund Moscow's war against Ukraine.

The US waiver allowed countries to purchase Russian oil that was already at sea until 11 April.

The Kremlin welcomed the decision by urging the United States to go further.

The general surge in oil prices since the start of the war in the Middle East has helped to replenish Russia's coffers, depleted by more than four years of war against Ukraine and international sanctions.

Mr Zelensky added that Ukrainian partners had asked Kyiv to halt long-range strikes on Russian oil sites against the backdrop of price hikes linked to the Iran war.

"I won't say who asked us to do this. But partners did ask - it's a fact. They asked at different levels, from political to military leadership," he said.

Ukraine has intensified its retaliatory attacks on Russian infrastructure including refineries, oil depots and ports in the past weeks, repeatedly striking the major Baltic ports of Ust-Luga and Primorsk.

Both Ukraine and Russia have been targeting each others' energy sites since Moscow invaded in February 2022, sparking the bloodiest war in Europe since World War II.

Mr Zelensky also said that Ukrainian military experts had downed Iranian drones in several Middle East countries.

Kyiv dispatched dozens of anti-drone personnel to at least four countries in the Middle East after US and Israeli strikes on Iran sparked a wave of retaliatory drone attacks.

"This was not about a training mission or exercises, but about support in building a modern air defence system that can actually work. Yes, they were shooting down Shaheds," he said, referring to the Iranian drones.

Mr Zelensky had said earlier this week that the Ukrainian drone units would remain in the region even after the United States and Iran agreed a two-week ceasefire.

Slow advances

The war has cost hundreds of thousands of lives and forced millions to flee their homes, making it Europe's deadliest conflict since World War II.

Over the past few years, fighting on the front has come to a near standstill. Russia has made small territorial gains at a high cost.

However, Ukraine recently managed to push back in the southeast and Russian advances have been slowing since late 2025, according to the US-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW).

Apart from Ukrainian counter-attacks, analysts attributed the slowdown to Russia being banned from using SpaceX's Starlink satellites and Moscow's own efforts to block the Telegram messaging app.

The satellite and the messaging app were widely used by troops for communications, especially for coordinating drone attacks that have come to dominate the war.

The situation is, however, unfavourable for Ukraine in the Donetsk region, towards the cities of Kramatorsk and Sloviansk, according to the ISW.

Russia wants Ukraine to pull troops from both cities without a fight as part of any peace accord.

Ukraine has in recent days stepped up assaults on Russian energy targets, especially oil-exporting ports after prices spiked on the back of the Middle East war.

Several rounds of US-led talks have failed to bring the warring sides closer to an agreement and US attention is now focused on Iran.

The negotiations have become deadlocked, with Russia demanding territorial and political concessions that Mr Zelensky has ruled out as tantamount to capitulation.

Russia occupies just over 19% of Ukraine, most of which was seized during the first weeks of the conflict.

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