A second truce? Putin calls for 72-hour Victory Day ceasefire till end of May 10

Within a span of a month, Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday declared a second ceasefire in its conflict with Ukraine, this time to mark the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Soviet Union (and its) allies over Nazi Germany in World War II. The Kremlin said that the 72-hour ceasefire would run from 12 AM on May 8 (2:30 AM IST) till 12AM on May 11. 

Just as before, Moscow expected the other side to follow suit, warning that they would respond in an “an adequate and effective” way if Ukraine were to break the ceasefire truce. There was no response from Kyiv to the unilateral truce announcement. 

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While both sides often report a temporary halt in hostilities, each side accused the other of multiple ceasefire violations, with Russia alleging that Kyiv had violated the Easter truce as many as 4,900 times.

Celebrated on May 9, Victory Day marks the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-45. It remains a major public holiday in Russia, and in countries that once belonged to the USSR, such as Belarus, Kazakhstan, and formerly Ukraine, often featuring military parades and commemorations of Red Army soldiers.

In this regard, according to a TASS report, a statement from Moscow reiterated their willingness to enter into peace talks with Ukraine “without preconditions”. However, the statement added that the “root causes” of the crisis should not be eliminated, referring to the key issues of contention that escalated the conflict, such as Ukraine's wish to join NATO, the demilitarisation of Ukraine, and questions of possession of areas like Crimea and Zaporizhzhia.

Moscow's “willingness” comes as America's patience wears thin after its fruitless attempts to end the conflict between the two nations, risking America from pulling out of the issue altogether. Ukraine and its European allies, in the meantime, continue to question Russia's motivations in their statements, while also trying to make America's proposal to end the conflict—which had considerably leaned in favour of Russia—more accommodative to Ukraine's needs. 

World