The Russian government has agreed to hold a ceasefire for the duration of Easter, which in the Orthodox calendar falls one week after the date celebrated in western Europe.
The Russian Orthodox Church uses the Julian Calendar, meaning that many Christian festivals are celebrated at different times to those churches which use the more common Gregorian calendar.
The ceasefire will last from 4pm local time on Saturday 11 April and last until Easter Sunday finishes. Russian President Vladimir Putin said that troops had been ordered to cease fire “in all directions”, although he warned that they were ready to deal with any “provocations” or “aggressive actions”.
Putin’s Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky, has indicated that Ukraine will honour the ceasefire. Writing online, Zelensky said Ukraine was “ready for symmetrical steps”.
“People need an Easter free from threats and real movement toward peace,” Zelensky said, adding that he would be happy for the ceasefire to continue indefinitely after Easter.
Russia has so far rejected moves towards a more permanent ceasefire, arguing that a peace deal needs to be agreed first.
Russia’s position has been strengthened by the resurgent conflict in the Middle East. US arms and diplomatic efforts are now focused away from Ukraine and the US has eased oil sanctions on Russia due to Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
Put simply, Russia is in an advantageous position and has no reason to agree to a ceasefire until its demands are met.
Additionally, the Middle East conflict may well have served to desensitise people to the actions of the Russian government. Echoing Putin, Donald Trump often refers to action against Iran as a “military operation”, rather than a “war”.
