Russia, Ukraine continued in hostilities regardless of Easter truce, UN says

Russia's declared Easter truce failed to carry as either side continued combating, Stephane Dujarric, a spokesperson for the U.N. secretary-general, mentioned on April 22 throughout a press briefing.

Russia was the primary to declare an Easter ceasefire beginning at 6 p.m. native time on April 19 and ending at midnight on April 21. President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russia of almost 3,000 ceasefire breaches throughout that interval.

"Either side continued to combat. As soon as once more, we name to finish this struggle according to related U.N. resolutions, worldwide regulation, and the territorial integrity of Ukraine," Dujarric mentioned.

Moscow additionally accused Kyiv of violating the truce. Ukraine has mentioned it could perform army actions solely in a "symmetrical" response to Russian assaults through the ceasefire.

Following the declaration of the Easter truce, Zelensky proposed a joint 30-day ceasefire on long-range missile and drone strikes towards civilian infrastructure. Whereas claiming openness to "peace initiatives," Russia has not but agreed to impose the ban.

Zelensky mentioned on April 21 that he was nonetheless ready for a solution concerning the broader ceasefire.

Kyiv has voiced skepticism about Russian President Vladimir Putin's Easter truce proposal, citing Russia's repeated violations of varied ceasefire agreements previously. Most lately, Ukraine mentioned that Russian forces continued attacking Ukrainian power services regardless of claiming to order a pause between March 18 and April 17.

U.S. President Donald Trump has additionally ramped up strain on Ukraine and Russia to safe a ceasefire within the coming days. After threatening on April 18 to drag U.S. help from the peace course of altogether, Trump instructed reporters on April 21 that there’s a "excellent likelihood" of a ceasefire settlement quickly.

Ukrainian representatives will meet with officers from the U.S., U.Okay., and France for an additional spherical of peace talks in London on April 23.

The London negotiations are a follow-up to the latest April 17 talks in Paris, the place senior members of the Trump administration first offered the U.S. ceasefire proposal to Ukrainian and European officers.

Moscow beforehand rejected a full 30-day truce agreed upon by Kyiv and Washington on March 11 in Jeddah.

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