Source: SFGate
“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 means the truce would 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.” (04/28/25)