Moscow, Russia:
Residents of Moscow gave a downbeat assessment on Saturday whether a 30-hour stakes with Ukraine announced will bring Putin Peater closer by President Vladimir Putin.
The Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zensky said that Kyiv would observe the surprise weather office, but accused the Russian army of all his promises to break with fresh ground and air strikes.
In a quiet district in South Moscow there was little trust that every break would show a breakthrough in ending the three -year conflict.
“I think it won't lead to anything,” said Svetlana, a 61-year-old pensioner who refused to give her last name.
“The Easter good will lead to nothing, because Ukraine will not honor these similarities,” she added.
Maria Goranina, 85, also thought that Ukraine could not be trusted.
“They will regroup after this ceasefire and come to us again,” she said AFP.
“I wish we could make peace with Ukraine forever,” she said.
Putin had rejected an American proposal last month for a 30-day full and unconditional ceasefire, after Kyiv had accepted it.
US President Donald Trump threatened on Friday that he was running away from his efforts to close a deal if he did not see meaningful progress.
Svetlana wondered why Russia should stop his offensive.
“Three years have passed, so many mutilated, disabled people, dead. And we have experienced part of Ukraine, and that's it? I don't understand what it is for at all.”
Since the launch of the offensive in February 2022, the Kremlin has rejected and prohibited all signs of public deviating opinions against the offensive and the rule of Putin.
Those who criticize the army or question the military campaign can be punished under strict censorship rules, also in prison for years.
'Press to the end'
Putin announced the Easter weather office and called it a “humanitarian” gesture.
The Moscow troops have been pushing ahead on the battlefield for months.
The army on Saturday claimed to have shifted Ukraine from another village in the Kursk Border region, where Kyiv's troops had seized hundreds of square kilometers last August in a brutal offensive.
Ukraine now only has a sliter of land there, while Russia has gone further across the border to the Noordoost -Sumy region.
The return from Trump to the White House has also brought uncertainty about how much Ukraine can rely on military and political support in the United States.
If Kyiv American weapons and dollars cannot replace other support, the conflict could change even more to the advantage of Moscow.
All this has stimulated the confidence of Russia.
Yevgeny Pavlov, 58, said he didn't think Russia should give Ukraine a breathing break.
“I don't believe in Ukraine.
“It is not necessary to give a delay. If we press, this means that we have to press until the end.”
(Except for the headline, this story was not edited by DailyExpertNews staff and has been published from a syndicated feed.)
