Kremlin rejects Zelensky's 30-day ceasefire offer

Russia's proposed truce would take place from 8 May to 10 May, when Russia marks the 80th anniversary of victory over Nazi Germany in World War II.

Zelensky questioned the need to wait until then for a ceasefire, saying it was a “movement just to ensure Putin's silence for his” parade.

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A proposal by the United States of America for an unconditional ceasefire with which Ukraine was hired also remains the option, Zelensky reiterated, follows. Periscope.

“Russia knows exactly what to do and how to respond: to stop attacks” sincerely, he said.

Ukraine's Foreign Minister said earlier that the Kremlin announcement on April 28th was insincere and that the ceasefire should begin immediately.

Russia's response on April 29th, however, was the rejection of the longest “immediate ceasefire, with Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, who said some issues should be resolved earlier.

Without answers to these questions, it is difficult to enter a long-term ceasefire”, he said.

Putin has earlier stated, during negotiations on the American proposal, that the plan should contain clauses that prevent Ukraine from using the pause to reorganise and armise, as well as preventing Western weapons supplies to Kiev. He offered no compromise on Russia's side in return.

This is the second time this month the Kremlin calls for a ban on fighting. A proposal for Easter holidays earlier this month was widely ignored, while Russia and Ukraine continued to hit each other.

Like each year during his presidency, Putin will lead a military parade at the Red Square on May 9th for Victory Day, celebrating the Soviet role in defeating Germany. In recent years, he has used this opportunity to praise Soviet and Russian history while criticising the West.

The festival occurs as Ukraine's Russian invasion already takes place in Europe's largest land war since World War II. Russia's losses, whether killed or wounded, are now believed to be greater than all the losses it has suffered in all the conflicts it has fought since 1945.

The Russian Defence Ministry said its air defence units destroyed 51 Ukrainian drones within less than three hours on the evening of 28 April. A ministry statement posted on the telegram said its units had destroyed 40 fears over the western Kursk region. Others were destroyed over the central Oryol and Belgorod region in the south, as well as over the Crimea and Black Sea Peninsula.

Efforts to reach a bilateral ceasefire or a broader peace deal were accelerated after US President Donald Trump took office in January, promising to complete the war within 24 hours.

His predecessor, Joe Biden, refused to engage in deep talks with Moscow as long as the invasion continues.

Although Trump has opened direct talks with Moscow, Russian officials have sought to expand negotiations to include not only the conflict in Ukraine, but also the broader bilateral relations between Washington and Moscow.

Russia and Ukraine agreed to a limited ceasefire in March, but both sides have continued to attack each other. On battlefields, Russian forces have taken advantage of both the number of people and the weapons to tired Ukraine's troops.

During the weekend, in Pope Francisescu' funeral margins at the Vatican, Trump had his first face-to-face meeting with Zelensky since February, when talks at the Oval Office failed amid tensions.

Trump said the meeting had gone well, but added he thought Zelensky was willing to hand over the Ukraine Crime Peninsula to Russia as a compromise of something Ukrainian leader has long claimed he would never do.

Later, Trump called on Putin of “to stop shooting” and accept a peace agreement.

White House spokeswoman Caroline Leavet reinforced this statement on April 28th.

“Trump wants to see a permanent truce. I understand that Vladimir Putin, this morning, offered a temporary ceasefire”, she said. The president has made it clear that he wants to see a permanent ceasefire to stop the killings to stop the bloodshed. ”

Experts say Putin is stalling the negotiations process because his forces have the upper hand in the battlefield and a ceasefire on the current line of contact would leave him without achieving one of his main goals: the full invasion of four Ukrainian regions Moscow claims to have annexed: Donjack, Luhansk, Zaporizjan and Herson.

They add that handing over Russia's territory would be politically and constitutionally impossible for Zelensky. Ukrainian citizens and lawmakers seem strongly opposed to this idea.

Russia wants any peace accords to recognise its control over almost 20 percent of Ukraine, including Crimea. It also requires Ukraine to disarm and be kept outside NATO. Moscow has also rejected Kiev's request for a Western peacekeeping force that would monitor any ceasefire agreement. /REL/