• Military

• WMD Menu                           

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

Zelenskyy Says Putin's Cease-Fire Proposal Over Victory Day Would Only Provide 'Silence For His Parade'

By RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service April 29, 2025

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has criticized Russian President Vladimir Putin's announcement of a three-day cease-fire in the Ukraine war to coincide with annual Victory Day celebrations in Moscow.

The unilateral mini-truce would take place May 8-10 as Russia marks the 80th anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany victory in World War II.

Zelenskyy said there is no need to wait until then for a cease-fire.

"For some reason everyone is supposed to wait until May 8 before ceasing fire -- just to provide Putin with silence for his parade. We value human lives, not parades," Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address.

"The cease-fire should not be just for a few days only to return to killing afterward. It must be immediate, full, and unconditional -- for at least 30 days to ensure it is secure and guaranteed. This is the foundation that could lead to real diplomacy," he said.

A proposal from the United States for an unconditional cease-fire, which Ukraine had agreed to, was also still possible, Zelenskyy reiterated.

"Russia knows exactly what it needs to do and how to respond: to genuinely cease fire."

Ukraine's foreign minister said earlier that the announcement by the Kremlin on April 28 was disingenuous and said it should begin immediately.

It's the second time this month that the Kremlin has called for halt to fighting. A proposal for the Easter holiday earlier this month was largely ignored as Russia and Ukraine continued to batter one another.

Highlighting the strikes, which have killed several civilians, including children, family and friends gathered on April 28 at a funeral for 17-year-old Danylo Khudia, who died in a Russian strike on Kyiv four days earlier. The funeral was also a remembrance for Khudia's parents, who were among at least 12 people killed in the attack.

As he has every year of his presidency, Putin will preside over a Red Square military parade on May 9 -- Victory Day -- celebrating the Soviet role in defeating Germany. In recent years, he has used the occasion to whitewash Soviet and Russian history, while also bashing the West.

The celebration occurs as the Russian invasion of Ukraine -- now the largest land war in Europe since World War II -- continues unabated in its fourth year. Russia's casualties, killed or wounded, now total more than all the casualties it suffered in all the conflicts it has fought since 1945.

The Russian Defense Ministry said its air defense units late on April 28 destroyed 51 Ukrainian drones in less than three hours. A ministry statement posted on Telegram said its units had destroyed 40 drones over western Kursk region. Other drones were destroyed over central Oryol region and Belgorod in the south and over the Crimean Peninsula and the Black Sea.

Efforts to reach a bilateral cease-fire or a broader peace deal kicked into higher gear as US President Donald Trump took office in January, vowing to end fighting within 24 hours.

His predecessor, Joe Biden, refused to engage in substantive talks with Moscow so long as the invasion continued.

Though Trump has opened direct talks with Moscow, Russian officials have sought to broaden the negotiations to include not just the Ukraine conflict, but wider bilateral relationship between Washington and Moscow.

Russia and Ukraine agreed on a limited cease-fire in March, but the two sides have continued to attack one another. On the battlefield, Russian forces have pressed their advantage -- in men and in weaponry -- to grind down Ukraine's troops.

Over the weekend on the sidelines of Pope Francis's funeral at the Vatican, Trump had his face-to-face meeting with Zelenskyy since February, when Oval Office talks imploded in acrimony.

Trump said the meeting had gone well, but he added that he thought Zelenskyy is ready to give up Ukraine's Crimea Peninsula to Russia as a concession -- something the Ukrainian leader has long stated he would never do.

Trump later called on Putin to "stop shooting" and agree to a peace deal.

White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt echoed that assertion on April 28.

Trump "wants to see a permanent cease-fire. I understand Vladimir Putin, this morning, offered a temporary cease-fire," she said. "The president has made it clear he wants to see a permanent cease-fire first to stop the killing, stop the bloodshed."

Experts say Putin has been dragging out talks because his forces have the momentum on the battlefield and a cease-fire at the current line of contact would leave him short of one of his main goals: fully capturing the four Ukrainian regions that Moscow claims to have annexed: Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhya, and Kherson.

They add that ceding territory to Russia would be politically and constitutionally impossible for Zelenskyy. Ukrainian citizens and lawmakers appear strongly opposed to the idea.

Russia wants any peace deal to recognize its control of nearly 20 percent of Ukraine, including Crimea. It also wants Ukraine to be de-militarized and kept out of NATO. Moscow has also rejected Kyiv's demand for a Western peacekeeping force to monitor any cease-fire agreement.

With reporting by AP, Reuters, and AFP

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-russia-war- ceasefire-putin-trump-victory-day/33399346.html

Copyright (c) 2025. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.