Zelensky: Ukraine stands by its proposed thirty-day ceasefire

(Patria) - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated that his country stands by its offer to observe a thirty-day ceasefire in the war with Russia, while the Kremlin has not responded to this proposal.

The spokesperson for the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in the meantime, rejected any suggestion that Moscow opposed or hindered efforts to introduce a ceasefire, Reuters reported.

Both spoke a few hours before a three-day ceasefire proposed by Russia was to come into effect to mark the anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany in World War II.

"Ukraine's proposal for a cessation of hostilities and the establishment of at least a thirty-day ceasefire remains in effect," Zelensky said in an evening video address. "We are not withdrawing this proposal, which could give diplomacy a chance."
Zelensky also seemed to acknowledge the numerous drone attacks that targeted Russian locations, including the city of Moscow, as the World War II commemorations approached.

"It is absolutely fair that the sky of Russia, the sky of the aggressor, is not peaceful today, in a way that is a mirror image," he said.

Russia, he said, has not responded to the thirty-day ceasefire offer "except with new strikes. This clearly and obviously shows everyone who is the source of the war."

The United States proposed a thirty-day ceasefire in March, and Ukraine agreed. Russia stated that such a measure could only be introduced after mechanisms for its implementation and maintenance were established.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova stated that Russia had observed a separate thirty-day moratorium on attacks on energy sites and had also observed a ceasefire coinciding with the Orthodox Easter commemoration last month.

"The only obstacle to a ceasefire is Kyiv, which violates agreements and is unwilling to seriously discuss the terms of a long-term ceasefire," Zakharova said in response to comments by US envoy Keith Kellogg.

"Russia has never been against a ceasefire. All the more so since we have done it twice," she said in a comment published on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs website.