Ukraine will adhere to the ceasefire and respond in exactly the same way. 'We proceed from the assumption that Ukraine will follow the example of the Russian Federation,' he concluded. Hours later, Zelensky assured that Kyiv would respond to Moscow 'in a symmetrical manner'. 'As we have said repeatedly and as President Putin has stated, we do not want a ceasefire, we want peace: a lasting and sustainable peace,' commented Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov at his latest daily telephone press conference. When asked about a possible extension of the ceasefire, the Kremlin pointed out that the announcement is exclusively for Orthodox Easter and has a 'humanitarian character,' as it is a sacred holiday for both Russians and Ukrainians. This truce must not allow 'the Ukrainian side in any way to take advantage of it to gain a military advantage, regroup, or undertake actions that could alter its military position,' declared, in turn, the representative of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs for Ukraine, Rodion Miroshnik. In the past, Putin had already declared unilateral ceasefires for a day or more, for example, for 30 hours last Easter or on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Red Army over Nazi Germany. Meanwhile, Zelensky has always advocated for 30-day truces, something that US President Donald Trump also supported until the summit with Putin in Alaska last August. The Easter truce agreed upon by Russia and Ukraine came into effect this Saturday at 16:00 local time (13:00 GMT) and, in principle, will expire at midnight on Sunday, when both countries celebrate Orthodox Easter. This is the fourth ceasefire since the start of the war in February 2022 between Russians and Ukrainians, whose peace negotiations mediated by the United States have been stalled for almost two months due to the conflict in Iran. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had advocated for a truce on these occasions on several occasions in recent weeks, but Moscow ignored Kyiv's initiative until two days ago. Then, the Russian leader, Vladimir Putin, announced that 'a ceasefire is declared from 16:00 (13:00 GMT) on April 11 until the end of April 12, 2026'. The note highlighted that the Russian military command had been instructed to cease hostilities on all fronts during those 32 hours. The absence of Russian attacks by land, sea, and air will mean that there will be no response on our part,' he wrote on social media this Saturday. He explained that he has discussed with the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Oleksander Syrskyi, the parameters of the Ukrainian response to potential enemy violations of the ceasefire and added that information about the 'symmetrical nature' of these possible retaliations has been communicated to the Russian side. Furthermore, Zelensky insisted that Ukraine is willing to extend the halt in fighting for more than two days, arguing that 'a ceasefire for Easter could become the beginning of a real movement towards peace'. 'We all know who we are dealing with'.
