Russian President Vladimir Putin has declared a short-term ceasefire in the ongoing conflict with Ukraine to mark the Christian celebration of Easter.

The truce, which begins Saturday evening, is expected to last until midnight on Sunday.

“Today from 1800 (1500 GMT) to midnight Sunday (2100 GMT Sunday), the Russian side announces an Easter truce,” Putin said during televised remarks to Russian Chief of Staff Valery Gerasimov.

The decision comes amid continued efforts by former U.S. President Donald Trump, who has been pushing both Russia and Ukraine to agree to a temporary halt in hostilities.

However, those efforts have yet to result in any meaningful concessions from the Kremlin.

Putin described the move as a humanitarian gesture.

“I order for this period to stop all military action,” he stated, calling it “based on humanitarian reasons.”

Easter, a significant occasion for Christians across the globe, will be observed this Sunday.

Putin expressed hope that Ukraine would also honor the ceasefire, though he instructed Russian forces to remain vigilant.

“We are going on the basis that the Ukrainian side will follow our example, while our troops must be ready to resist possible breaches of the truce and provocations by the enemy, any aggressive actions,” he warned.

The Russian president also accused Ukraine of repeatedly violating prior understandings.

“More than 100 times… breached an agreement on not striking energy infrastructure,” Putin said, quoting Gerasimov.

Just a day earlier, Moscow officially ended a self-imposed moratorium on targeting Ukrainian energy systems.

Both Russia and Ukraine have accused each other of violating an informal agreement regarding these critical facilities.

Putin suggested that this ceasefire could serve as a test of Ukraine’s sincerity in engaging with future diplomatic efforts.

“The latest truce proposal will show how sincere is the Kyiv’s regime’s readiness, its desire and ability to observe agreements and participate in a process of peace talks,” he said.

This is not the first time ceasefire efforts have surfaced around religious holidays.

Similar proposals during Easter in April 2022 and Orthodox Christmas in January 2023 collapsed due to a lack of mutual agreement.

The United States plans to significantly reduce its military footprint in Syria, cutting the number of deployed troops to fewer than 1,000 in the coming months, the Pentagon announced on Friday.

American forces have maintained a presence in Syria for several years as part of international efforts to combat the Islamic State (IS) group, which emerged during the country’s civil war and seized large territories in both Syria and Iraq over a decade ago. Although IS has been largely defeated, remnants of the group remain active and continue to pose a threat.

“Today the secretary of defense directed the consolidation of US forces in Syria… to select locations,” Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement. He did not disclose where these consolidations would occur.

“This deliberate and conditions-based process will bring the US footprint in Syria down to less than 1,000 US forces in the coming months,” Parnell added.

He assured that despite the troop reduction, “US Central Command will remain poised to continue strikes against the remnants of (IS) in Syria.”

Former President Donald Trump, who has long questioned the need for US involvement in Syria, previously ordered a troop withdrawal during his first term, though some forces remained. After Islamist-led rebels launched a rapid offensive last December and ultimately overthrew Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Trump reiterated his stance that the US should not be entangled in Syria’s affairs.

“Syria is a mess, but is not our friend, & THE UNITED STATES SHOULD HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH IT. THIS IS NOT OUR FIGHT,” Trump wrote on Truth Social while serving as president-elect. “NOT GET INVOLVED!” he added.

Years of Conflict Against IS

The rise of IS in 2014 prompted a US-led coalition to launch an air campaign in support of ground forces, including the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and Iraqi military units. American troops were also deployed to advise, train, and assist local forces, and in some cases, engaged in direct combat against IS fighters.

Iraq declared victory over IS in December 2017, while the SDF declared the defeat of the so-called caliphate in March 2019 after capturing the group’s last stronghold in Syria. However, IS still maintains a presence in rural areas of both countries.

Following the fall of Assad’s regime, Washington intensified operations against IS in Syria but later shifted focus to countering Yemen’s Huthi rebels, who have attacked international maritime targets since 2023.

US forces stationed in Syria and Iraq also faced frequent attacks from Iranian-backed militias, particularly after the Gaza conflict erupted in October 2023. In response, the US launched retaliatory strikes, eventually curbing the wave of assaults.

Though the Pentagon had previously reported about 900 troops in Syria, a December 2024 update revealed the number had surged to around 2,000 earlier that year. The latest plan will now reduce that figure by roughly half.

In parallel, Iraq has called for an end to the US-led coalition’s mission on its soil. The US has about 2,500 troops in Iraq. Both countries have agreed to conclude coalition operations in federal Iraq by the end of 2025 and in the Kurdistan region by September 2026.

U.S. President Donald Trump has signaled that the United States could withdraw from ongoing peace negotiations between Ukraine and Russia if tangible progress isn’t made in the coming days.

His comments, delivered Thursday, mark a sharp shift in Washington’s diplomatic tone on the conflict.

The announcement follows earlier remarks by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who told reporters in Paris that the U.S. would “move on” if it appeared that peace was not “doable.”

Although Trump has pushed for a ceasefire between the warring nations, his efforts have yet to yield any major breakthroughs, despite initiating dialogue with Russian President Vladimir Putin and holding repeated talks with Moscow.

“Yeah very shortly,” Trump responded when asked by reporters in the Oval Office to confirm Rubio’s position on potentially walking away from the discussions.

“No specific number of days, but quickly. We want to get it done.”

While refusing to assign blame directly to either Putin, who initiated the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, or Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Trump emphasized that progress must be mutual.

“Now if for some reason one of the two parties makes it very difficult, we’re just going to say: ‘You’re foolish. You’re fools. You’re horrible people’ — and we’re going to just take a pass,” he stated. “But hopefully we won’t have to do that.”

Meanwhile, Russian strikes on Ukrainian territory persist, with officials in Kyiv reporting that attacks on Kharkiv and Sumy in the northeast have left at least two civilians dead and injured dozens more.

One of the few concessions secured by Trump — a temporary halt on attacks against Ukraine’s energy facilities — has now expired, according to Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, who responded to a question from AFP.

Following meetings with European leaders in Paris aimed at pushing a ceasefire, Rubio stated that time was running out to determine whether a short-term truce was possible.

“Because if it’s not, then I think we’re just going to move on,” he told journalists.

Despite the grim outlook, U.S. Vice President JD Vance expressed continued hope during a visit to Italy, insisting he remained “optimistic” about ending the war that has lasted over three years.

Trump, who once pledged to end the conflict within 24 hours of taking office, has struggled to make headway.

His attempts to thaw relations with the Kremlin have worried Ukrainian officials and driven a wedge between the United States and several of its European allies.

He and Vice President Vance were also reported to have had a heated exchange with Zelensky in the Oval Office back in February.

Trump has since accused the Ukrainian leader of contributing to the outbreak of war.

Nevertheless, Trump insists he’s not being manipulated by Moscow.

“My whole life has been one big negotiation and I know when people are playing us and I know when they’re not,” the former real estate mogul said.

Ukrainian President Zelensky condemned the most recent attacks, which coincided with the Christian observance of Good Friday.

Kyiv also reported the return of 909 soldiers’ bodies from Russia.

“This is how Russia started Good Friday — with ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, Shahed drones. A mockery of our people and cities,” Zelensky posted on Telegram.

The Russian military, for its part, claimed it had targeted key drone production facilities and Ukrainian airbases.

Putin recently dismissed a joint U.S.-Ukrainian ceasefire proposal, while also demanding that any truce in the Black Sea be conditioned on the lifting of Western sanctions.

Trump has made no secret of his growing dissatisfaction with Zelensky, further differentiating his stance from that of his predecessor, Joe Biden.

Meanwhile, Ukraine is expected to sign a strategic agreement next week in Washington granting the U.S. extensive access to its mineral reserves.

European leaders are also pushing for a greater role in the peace talks. On Thursday, France convened a meeting of U.S and European officials in Paris, which included President Emmanuel Macron, Secretary Rubio, and U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff.

However, Witkoff’s recent trip to Russia and his echoing of Kremlin narratives have raised concerns among allies over Washington’s diplomatic posture.