Zelenskyy waits for Putin’s response on truce
21 April 23:26
Ukraine is ready for a dialogue to begin a partial truce with Russia, which will include a ban on long-range strikes on civilian targets. This was stated by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in his evening video address, "Komersant Ukrainian" reports
The head of state noted that after Easter, the whole world sees the real reason why the fighting continues. The real source of the war is Russia.
“It is from Moscow that the real order of the Russian army to cease fire should come, and if there is no such tough Russian order for silence, there is no silence,” Zelensky said.
The President reminded that there were no air raids on Easter and there were some areas of the front where the fighting stopped. This means that a truce is possible when Russia agrees to it.
“Russia has rejected not only the American proposal for a complete and unconditional ceasefire, which was made at the Jeddah talks more than a month ago, but also yesterday’s proposal to continue to do everything for silence after Easter… However, Ukraine maintains its proposal not to strike at least civilian infrastructure. And we expect a clear answer from Moscow. We are ready for any conversation on how to ensure this,” Zelenskyy said.
The Head of State explained that the easiest way to achieve such a truce is to stop the attacks by missiles and long-range drones. This will automatically guarantee security for all civilian infrastructure.
“A real, lasting ceasefire should be the first step towards a reliable and lasting peace. Representatives of Ukraine – both at the meetings in Paris and at the meetings in London this week – received the main task, the first priority is an unconditional ceasefire – this should be the beginning. Peace comes in silence,” the President noted.
According to the WSJ, the United States expects Kyiv to respond this week to ideas for ending the war. In particular, the refusal to join NATO and the possible recognition of Crimea as Russian.
According to the newspaper, the ideas presented in Paris include recognizing Crimea as Russian, excluding Ukraine’s accession to NATO, and declaring the area around the nuclear power plant a neutral territory that could be under Washington’s control.
At the same time, according to Western officials, the ideas put forward by representatives of the Trump team do not meet a number of Russian demands. In particular, the United States does not recognize that Russia has the legal right to control four regions in the eastern part of Ukraine (Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, Luhansk, and Donetsk regions). At the same time, Washington does not demand that Russian troops leave these areas. Bloomberg previously reported that the United States would consider recognizing Crimea as Russian.
“Accepting some of the Trump administration’s ideas could prove difficult for Kyiv, as Ukraine has refused to recognize that Russia has a legitimate claim to any of its territory,” the WSJ writes.
The US also does not seem to be proposing to limit the number of Ukrainian troops and does not rule out Western military support for Kyiv or the deployment of European troops in the country.
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