Not even Orthodox Easter has managed to open a respite in the Ukraine War. The 30 -hour truce declared by Vladimir Putin has ended as it began: without guarantees, without advances and without response to the proposal of Volodimir Zelenski to prolong it for a month. Moscow has kept silent while the war parts occupied the place of diplomatic gestures. The attempt has lasted the right thing to remember that each movement looks too much like the previous one: truces that do not support themselves, threats that are repeated, meetings that do not lead anywhere. Donald Trump has added pressure from Washington with another public ultimatum. 100 days after his return to the White House, he demands immediate results or will withdraw the United States from the process. And the war, once again, returns to the starting point.
Putin declared the fire on Saturday at 2:00 p.m., on the occasion of the Orthodox Easter, and asked Ukraine to add “for humanitarian reasons.” Zelenski accepted the gesture, but without enthusiasm. “In practice, or Putin does not control his army or the situation shows that in Russia they have no intention of making a genuine advance to end war,” he wrote that same day in his X account.
During the first hours, silence was partial. Although no bombings on civilian population were recorded, the Ukrainian forces denounced tactical movements of the Russian army in the east of the country. Throughout Sunday, that activity was increasing. According to the Ukrainian army, until eight in the afternoon 2,935 rapes of the truce were recorded: 67 direct attacks, 1,355 bombings —713 of them with heavy weapons – and 673 drones thrown against Ukrainian positions. Moscow, on the other hand, accused kyiv of attacking Russian positions in Donbás and using hyper systems supplied by the United States.
Putin did not respond. Nor did any high position of the Kremlin. Only the presidential spokesman Dmitri Peskov, said at the last minute that the president had not ordered to prolong the high fire. Zelenski closed the day with a bitter message: “A whole day has not been enough for Russia to respond to the Ukrainian proposal of Alto El Fuego.” At midnight, the truce expired. There was no joint communication or final statement. Only another failed attempt, another unilateral gesture without an echo, and a new day of war in progress.
Donald Trump squeezes: requires an immediate agreement
As soon as the truce expires, Donald Trump launched a message from his social truth network: “I hope Russia and Ukraine reach an agreement this week. Then both will begin to do great business with the United States of America, which are thriving, and will make a fortune!” The phrase not only marked the symbolic end of the attempt of Alto El Fuego, but confirmed the tone that the US president has imposed on negotiations: direct pressure, short deadlines and a strategy that prioritizes economic benefit against traditional diplomacy.
From his return to the Oval Office, Trump has reiterated that he will end the war in Ukraine. Its approach is to force an agreement that, in the medium term, allows to reorient international aid towards reconstruction … and towards investment opportunities. On Friday, he had already warned that if there were no progress in the following days, his government would retire as a mediator. Marco Rubio, his secretary of state, reinforced it from Paris: “Washington will step aside if there are no progress,” he said in the presence of European diplomats.
That message has lit the alarms in kyiv. Although publicly maintains the diplomatic tone, in private the Ukrainian government fears that Washington is closer to demanding concessions than to guarantee support. “Not even Trump has achieved anything with what he can tell his citizens who has fulfilled his promises,” said Kira Rudik, leader of the Golos party, in statements collected by the country. Other Ukrainian leaders warn of the risk that the United States will be willing to reward Russia with a relaxation of sanctions in exchange for a superficial agreement.
In the conversations held in Paris, and according to leaks collected by Bloomberg, Rubio even raised the possibility of lifting the sanctions on the Rosselkhozbank – the Russian state agricultural bank – if that facilitates a minimum agreement. The control of the territories occupied by Russia in eastern Ukraine was also discussed. While kyiv insists on not formally recognizing those losses, in Washington you start talking about “intermediate” formulas to close a pact as soon as possible.
For Trump, time runs. It approaches 100 days of mandate and needs to show results. Ukraine offers you a clear political opportunity: to resolve a visible war, with strong symbolic burden, and do it without further military deployment. But, for now, there is no truce, there is no agreement, nor are there signs that Moscow will give up. There is only pressure. And a watch on the way.
Two months of negotiations without progress
The Easter truce has not been an isolated episode. For two months, the United States has undertaken several attempts to achieve fire in Ukraine. The first was March 11 at Yeda, with a proposal for the cessation of hostilities for 30 days. Ukraine accepted. Russia no. From there, partial agreements were raised: protection of energy infrastructure, black safety, exchange of protected objectives. None have been fully respected.
According to the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, Russia has breached the energy agreement at least 30 times since its entry into force on March 25. The cities of Jersón, Poltava and Mikolaiv have been attacked with drones. Moscow, on the other hand, accuses kyiv of having bombarded the Sudzha gas pipeline, in the Russian region of Kursk. As the country published, there is no independent verification mechanism, and the lists of objectives delivered to Washington by both parties do not coincide. The Kremlin has also introduced new conditions, such as the lifting of sanctions to the Rosselkhozbank.
This week the delegations of Ukraine, the United States, France, the United Kingdom and Germany will meet in London. Zelenski has reiterated that he is willing to agree “a high total, unconditional and honest fire.” But the general feeling is that nothing has changed. “Putin does not want peace, wants to save time and play these games,” said Deputy Oleksii Gontentko, of European solidarity. The Pascual truce, like the previous ones, did not break: it simply got rid of.
