Announced ceasefire: “Putin wants to impress Donald Trump”

Expert on the announced ceasefire: “Putin wants to impress Trump”

What’s behind Putin Ceasefire Move? It’s unclear, says security expert Lange. Announcing ceasefires and then not observing them is a game the Kremlin chief has been playing since 2014 – and currently, it’s primarily about US President Trump.

tagesschau24 : Despite Russian President Vladimir Putin’s announcement , the bombings continue, Ukraine reports. What does Putin’s word mean then?

Nico Lange : Nothing. You can’t believe Putin, we know that. And we’ve seen this game many times before. Putin announces a ceasefire and then accuses Ukraine of breaking the ceasefire – so unfortunately, he has no choice and has to keep fighting. Putin has been playing this game in Donbass since 2014, and unfortunately, it’s reported again and again, as if you can believe Putin and as if his announcements are worth something.

tagesschau24 : What could be behind Putin’s ceasefire proposal?

Lange : Putin wants to impress Donald Trump. He certainly also wants the world to know that he declared a ceasefire for Easter. Putin is someone who, just a week ago on Palm Sunday, ordered ballistic missiles to be fired at people on their way to a church service. That shows how hypocritical that is.

For more than a month, Ukraine has declared its readiness to enter into an unconditional ceasefire. Putin hasn’t accepted that. Now he’s talking about 30 hours. I think it’s right that Ukrainian President Zelenskyy suggested: “Yes, then let’s extend it to 30 days. Then we’ll see if you’re serious.” I think we’ll find out in a few hours what Putin’s true intentions are.

“Ceasefire is only virtual”: Putin Ceasefire Move

tagesschau24 : Could Putin use the ceasefire for another offensive, as he has done before?

Lange : The ceasefire is only virtual. Putin announced it, and news agencies all over the world reported it. On the front, things are continuing as before. He hasn’t shown any difference in the last 24 hours. Putin intends to continue attacking. He has plans for that. He also intends to launch new attacks toward Sumy and in other directions.

There are no signs that Putin truly wants a ceasefire. He could do it immediately. He’s been able to do it for a month, ever since Ukraine was ready for it. And one has to ask: Why isn’t Putin doing it? Putin has the great advantage at the moment that, unfortunately, one has to get the impression that the US under President Trump is on his side.

“Putin has an interest in Ukraine no longer existing”

tagesschau24 : Does the Russian president have any interest in a genuine ceasefire?

Lange : Putin has an interest in Ukraine no longer existing. And he will keep fighting to achieve this goal. Or he will try to do it politically, if the US helps him. Unfortunately, there is no one putting pressure on Putin right now, so he would really have to come to the table for a serious discussion. People always talk about diplomacy. But the truth is: diplomacy can only work with Putin if you are strong. But neither the US nor the Europeans are exerting the necessary pressure on Putin to make this happen.

tagesschau24 : And in which phase of the war are we currently in, given that we hear from Washington that the USA would withdraw from efforts to resolve the war in Ukraine if Russia or Ukraine made ending the conflict too difficult.

Lange : That’s not so easy to say. We always try to think and approach the problem as if we were close to the end of this war. But we don’t know: Are we still at the beginning, are we in the middle, or are we at the end? That now also depends on whether the Europeans are able to push Putin back toward peace and then secure lasting peace in Europe.

There are several states that are currently coming together to form a so-called coalition of the willing , ones that are ready to do something serious. But, to be honest, there are also many others that are just waiting and seeing what Putin does and hoping that the whole thing will somehow stop on its own. Unfortunately, Germany is partly one of them. Hopefully, that will change with the new federal government.

“Europeans will have to solve it alone – without the US”

tagesschau24 : The Ukraine talks are said to continue next week in London. What can we expect?

Lange : There’s a proposal on the table that largely originates from Russian drafts and is being supported by the Americans. It basically says: Ukraine should give up territory, and elections should be held in Ukraine. That’s fine, too. But I think the Russians and the Americans are hoping that something other than someone who strongly defends Ukraine’s sovereignty might emerge. Frankly, I don’t believe that. There are no statements about security guarantees for Ukraine.

And the US seems to be saying: Either we accept this poor offer now, unaware of what it actually means in the long run, because Putin is maintaining his goals. Or the US simply does nothing, and the problem remains with the Europeans alone. That’s the situation we’re in right now. This makes a new German federal government all the more necessary so that the Europeans can develop a common position, because they will have to solve it alone – without the US.

The interview was conducted by Kirsten Gerhard for tagesschau24. It has been adapted for the written version.

Kyiv: Russia does not respect ceasefire

According to Kyiv, Moscow is violating the ceasefire ordered by Kremlin leader Putin. Zelenskyy stated that there were several attacks by Russian forces during the night.

According to Ukraine, the Easter ceasefire declared by Russian President Vladimir Putin is not being observed. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that Russian attacks on several front lines continued and that Russian artillery fire “has not abated.”

The Ukrainian armed forces reported 59 cases of shelling and five attempted attacks along the front line on the morning of Easter Sunday, Zelensky quoted army chief Olexandr Syrsky on Platform X. The Russian army is making isolated attempts to advance. “In general, since Easter morning, we can say that the Russian army has been trying to create the general impression of a ceasefire, but in some places it is not giving up individual attempts to advance and inflict losses on Ukraine,” the Ukrainian president explained.

According to Zelensky, between 6 p.m. on Saturday and midnight, there were also 387 incidents of shelling and 19 attacks by Russian forces. “Drones were used by the Russians 290 times,” he added.

Putin announced a ceasefire until Sunday evening

Putin announced on Saturday that the ceasefire would take effect at 5 p.m. CEST and last until 11 p.m. CEST on Sunday. At a meeting with Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov, he justified the ceasefire with “humanitarian reasons” and called on Ukraine to also lay down its arms during this period. Putin also instructed Gerasimov to prepare Russian troops to defend against possible violations of the ceasefire. This year, the Orthodox Easter coincides with the Easter celebrations of the Catholic and Protestant churches.

Zelenskyy: We will orient ourselves on Russia’s behavior

Although Zelenskyy reacted skeptically to the Russian announcement, he nevertheless stated that the country would be guided by the Russian side’s behavior. He wrote on the online service X.

The Ukrainian president also suggested extending the ceasefire by 30 days. “If the full ceasefire actually holds, Ukraine proposes an extension beyond April 20,” Zelenskyy wrote on the X platform.”That would reveal Russia’s true intentions—because 30 hours is enough for headlines, but not for real confidence-building measures,” the president added. “Thirty days would give peace a chance.”

Trump increases pressure on warring parties

In January 2023, Putin had already ordered his armed forces in Ukraine to observe a unilateral, 36-hour ceasefire over the Orthodox Christmas holidays. Zelenskyy described the announcement at the time as a biding of time so that Russia could regroup its invasion forces and prepare for further attacks.

Recently, Washington had increased pressure on the warring parties to agree to the early start of peace talks. US President Donald Trump has made it clear that he wants to see rapid progress so that the war in Ukraine ends soon – otherwise, his administration could abandon its efforts. He wants to see an agreement “very soon,” Trump said at the White House.

He did not specify how many days this meant. The US President emphasized that he had no interest in continuing his mediation efforts if both sides were unwilling to compromise.

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Sources used:

• With material from the News agencies  dpa and AFP, Reuters news agency, BBC News and CNN reports. The content has been independently analyzed and rewritten to provide original insights.

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