Vladimir Putin has announced a temporary ceasefire in Ukraine this weekend to mark the 80th anniversary of victory in WW2, the Kremlin has said.
The 72-hour ceasefire is the second announced by Moscow in recent weeks, after it declared a 30-hour Easter Sunday truce – which Kyiv and its European allies accused it of breaching.
The Kremlin said the truce will last from the beginning of 8 May and last until the close of 10 May, adding that Russia give an “adequate and effective response” to any Ukrainian violations. Moscow remains ready for peace talks without any preconditions, the statement added.
Mr Putin is looking to win back favour with Donald Trump, after the US president said he was “very disappointed” in Russia’s continued bombardment of civilian areas in Ukraine.
Mr Trump also said he believes Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky is ready to give up Crimea in order to strike a peace deal with Russia.
Meanwhile, North Korea’s Kim Jong Un confirmed he sent his troops to support Russian president Vladimir Putin’s war efforts in Ukraine for the first time.
Mr Kim said his deployment order was meant to “annihilate and wipe out the Ukrainian neo-Nazi occupiers and liberate the Kursk area”.
