Ukraine-Russia war latest: Zelensky accuses Putin of breaching ‘Easter truce’

My collegue Tara Cobham reports:

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said that, according to his top commander, Russian artillery fire had not subsided despite the Kremlin’s proclamation of an Easter ceasefire.

“As of now, according to the Commander-in-Chief reports, Russian assault operations continue on several frontline sectors, and Russian artillery fire has not subsided,” Zelensky wrote on X.

“Therefore, there is no trust in words coming from Moscow.”

He recalled that Russia had last month rejected a US-proposed full 30-day ceasefire and said that if Moscow agreed to “truly engage in a format of full and unconditional silence, Ukraine will act accordingly — mirroring Russia’s actions”.

“If a complete ceasefire truly takes hold, Ukraine proposes extending it beyond the Easter day of April 20,” Zelensky wrote.

On Friday, Donald Trump said the US could “take a pass” on Ukraine peace talks if they become too difficult but added he thought there was a “good chance” of succeeding.

Mr Trump’s Secretary of State Marco Rubio had suggested that Washington could “move on” if progress is not made within days in comments after a meeting in Paris with UK, EU and Ukrainian delegations.

Mr Trump told reporters at the White House on Friday that “Marco is right in saying … we want to see it end”.

“If for some reason one of the two parties makes it very difficult, we’re going to say you’re fools, you’re foolish, and we’re just going to take a pass,” he said.

But he added he believes there is “a good chance of solving the problem”.

Asked if Russian President Vladimir Putin was dragging his feet on negotiations, Mr Trump replied: “I hope not.”

Our Political Correspondent Archie Mitchell reports:

Moscow’s troops have driven out Ukrainian forces from nearly all of Russia’s western Kursk region, Russia’s military chief Valery Gerasimov has said.

“The bulk of the area where the invasion took place has now been cleared,” Mr Gerasimov told president Vladimir Putin in a televised meeting.

“It’s 1,260 square km, 99.5%.”

Russia has been trying to eject Ukrainian forces from Kursk since August last year after Kyiv’s troops mounted a surprise incursion that embarrassed Putin and which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky hoped would give him a bargaining chip in any future talks to end the war.

Mr Gerasimov said Ukraine was holding onto just 3 square km of Kursk around the villages of Oleshnya and Gornal, which lie just on the border.

The Defence Ministry said on Saturday that Russia had recaptured Oleshnya from Ukraine.

In recent weeks Russia has retaken a swath of territory inside Kursk and has begun to push ahead into Ukraine’s neighbouring Sumy region.

At the same time, Ukraine has also made a fresh push into Russia’s Belgorod region, south of Kursk. Gerasimov told Putin that troops were successfully suppressing Ukrainian attacks there.

A Ukrainian official has said that Russian forces were continuing to open fire on Ukrainian positions despite Russian President Vladimir Putin’s proclamation of an Easter ceasefire.

“The Russians are trying to pretend that they are ‘peacekeepers’, but they already refused an unconditional ceasefire on March 11 and now are conducting an information operation, talking about a ‘truce’ but continuing to shoot without stopping,” Andriy Kovalenko, head of the Centre for Countering Disinformation, wrote on Telegram.

“This is all with the aim of blaming Ukraine,” wrote Mr Kovalenko, whose centre is a body within the National Security and Defence Council.

Ukraine’s foreign minister has said that Ukraine could not trust Russian President Vladimir Putin over his declaration of an Easter ceasefire and added that Kyiv stood by its original agreement to abide by a 30-day cease fire.

“Ukraine’s position remains clear and consistent: back in Jeddah on March 11, we agreed unconditionally to the U.S. proposal of a full interim ceasefire for 30 days,” Minister Andrii Sybiha said on X.

“Putin has now made statements about his alleged readiness for a ceasefire. 30 hours instead of 30 days.

“Russia can agree at any time to the proposal for a full and unconditional 30-day ceasefire, which has been on the table since March…. We know his words cannot be trusted and we will look at actions, not words.”