Ambassador Explains Why Putin’s ‘Ceasefire’ Initiative Has Nothing to Do with Peace Proposal

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy commented on Putin's statement about the so-called ceasefire from 8 to 10 May. In his address, the Ukrainian leader stressed that what is needed is not a temporary truce, but a complete and immediate ceasefire for at least 30 days. European leaders, in turn, have criticised Vladimir Putin's proposal for a so-called ‘truce’, as they understand that the Russian dictator does not really want to end the war, but is using the ceasefire for his own purposes. This was stated by diplomat, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine to the Republic of Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina (2010-2017) Oleksandr Levchenko.

The Gaze reports on this with reference to the broadcast of the FREEDOM TV channel.

Levchenko said that the American Institute for the Study of War named two goals that Putin pursues by offering the so-called truce.

‘He emphasised that Putin is actually using this (truce - ed.) for propaganda purposes, firstly. And secondly, to give his troops a little rest, and he was sure that no missiles would be fired at Russia from Ukraine during this time, because there are targets there. He also wanted to protect himself from attacks and not hide somewhere in the Mausoleum during the parade. In general, this initiative has nothing to do with the peace proposal, as most European leaders have said,’ Levchenko said.

According to him, the ‘Easter truce’ already shows how Russia will behave during the new ‘truce’, as the Russian army violated it 3,000 times in the course of several days.

‘Obviously, now the Russians will violate the ceasefire 3-4 thousand, maybe even 5 thousand times. So the question is that we need to negotiate seriously, if Moscow really wants peace, really, and if it doesn't, then let it say that there can be no peace, and they are not considering the proposal of Donald Trump, the American side at all. This will shorten the time and actually sober up the American side about the plans that the Kremlin has to end the war. And these plans are not to end the war, but to prolong it,’ the diplomat said.

Levchenko noted that the proposal for a three-day truce is a proposal that shows that the Kremlin has long been playing games and a joint decisive reaction is needed to its activities, which are aimed solely at waging war and terrorising the civilian population.

As The Gaze reported earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin has announced a three-day ceasefire with Ukraine to coincide with the 80th anniversary of the Soviet Union's victory in World War II.

Ukraine swiftly responded with scepticism. Andrii Sybiha, Ukraine's Minister for Foreign Affairs, called for an immediate month-long ceasefire rather than a short symbolic pause.