As Trump administration officials enjoy a wholesome Christian holiday weekend, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky slammed Russian President Vladimir Putin for lying about an Easter ceasefire.
“As for yet another attempt by Putin to play with human lives—at this moment, air raid alerts are spreading across Ukraine,” Zelensky posted on X. “At 17:15, Russian attack drones were detected in our skies.”
He continued: “Drones in our skies reveal Putin’s true attitude toward Easter and toward human life.”
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On Saturday morning, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a 30-hour halt to fighting throughout the Holy weekend. According to the Kremlin, the ceasefire would last from 11 a.m. EST on Saturday to 5 p.m. EST on Easter Sunday.
“We assume that the Ukrainian side will follow our example,” Putin said in the announcement video.
But at around 2 p.m. on Saturday, Ukraine’s air force issued an alert about the “threat of ballistic weapons in areas where air alert has been declared.”
Zelensky later confirmed he would only agree to a ceasefire if Putin also followed through.
“If Russia is now suddenly ready to truly engage in a format of full and unconditional silence, Ukraine will act accordingly—mirroring Russia’s actions,” he said, but added: “Russian assault operations continue on several frontline sectors, and Russian artillery fire has not subsided. Therefore, there is no trust in words coming from Moscow.”
Putin’s 30-hour ceasefire proposal came only one day after Secretary of State Marco Rubio told officials that the U.S. would abandon its efforts to end the war in Ukraine if progress proves impossible over the next couple of days. The U.S. government earlier proposed a 30-day ceasefire, which Russia rejected.
“If it is not possible to end the war in Ukraine, we need to move on,” Rubio said Friday.
U.S. President Donald Trump previously promised to end the Russia-Ukraine war on day one of his presidency.
