By Illia Novikov
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday declared a unilateral 72-hour ceasefire next week in Ukraine to mark Victory Day in World War II as the U.S. presses for a deal to end the 3-year-old war. Kyiv insisted on a longer and immediate truce.
The Kremlin said the truce, ordered on “humanitarian grounds,” will run from the start of May 8 and last through the end of May 10 to mark Moscow’s defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945 — Russia’s biggest secular holiday. That timing translates to start at 2100 GMT, or 5 p.m. EDT, on May 7, lasting until 2100 GMT, or 5 p.m. EDT on May 10.
Ukraine, which has previously agreed to U.S. President Donald Trump’s proposal of a full 30-day ceasefire, dismissed Putin’s move as window dressing.
“If Russia truly wants peace, it must cease fire immediately,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said, according to the ministry. He emphasized
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