Kyiv said Monday that Moscow must stop hostilities in Ukraine “immediately” if it wants peace, as Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a three-day unilateral ceasefire earlier in the day.
“If Russia truly wants peace, it must cease fire immediately. Why wait until May 8th? If the fire can be ceased now and since any date for 30 days-so it is real, not just for a parade,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said on X.
He went on to say Ukraine is ready to support a “lasting, durable, and full” ceasefire, adding: “This is what we are constantly proposing, for at least 30 days.”
Earlier, Putin declared a unilateral ceasefire in Ukraine from midnight on May 7-8 to midnight on May 10-11, as Moscow is set to mark its 80th anniversary of Victory Day.
Victory Day is a holiday celebrated in Russia and various former Soviet countries on May 9 in commemoration of Nazi Germany’s surrender during World War II, a conflict Russia officially calls the Great Patriotic War.