Moscow: Russian president Vladimir Putin has announced a three-day ceasefire in the ongoing war against Ukraine from May 8-10 to mark 80 years of victory of the Allied Forces in World War II. This is the second truce announced by Putin in the last few weeks. He had announced the last one during Easter.
May 8 is observed as Victory Day across Europe and the US as it was on that day in 1945 that the Allies accepted the unconditional surrender of Nazi Germany’s armed forces.
Incidentally, both Russia and Ukraine – or at least a portion of it – was part of the USSR in 1945. The eastern states of Ukraine, known as the Ukraine Soviet Socialist Republic was a founding partner of the larger USSR.
An USSR-Ukraine war followed the Russian Revolution on 1922. After this war, the eastern states of Ukraine joined the USSR while the remaining were divided between Poland, Romania and Czechoslovakia. After World War II, the USSR took over the remaining states and in 1954, Crimea became a part of the Ukraine Soviet Socialist Republic. It was in 1991 that Ukraine became an independent nation.
The Kremlin announced on Monday that Putin has announced a complete halt to hostilities on ‘humanitarian grounds’.
“During this period, all military actions will cease. Russia feels that the Ukrainian side should follow this example,” the statement said. It, however, warned that any violations by Ukraine would be met with an ‘adequate and effective response.’
Putin has been saying that he wants to talk ‘peace’ with Ukraine. The latter, however, is skeptical about his intent. According to Ukraine, there were 3,000 violations by Russia during the Easter truce. Even US president Donald Trump doesn’t believe that Putin is serious about ending the war.
