Vladimir Putin’s senior economic advisor Kirill Dmitriev with Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff, St. Petersburg, Russia, April 11, 2025
Thursday’s Coverage: Zelensky — Trump Ignoring Theat to US Troops From Russia’s Info to Iran
Vladimir Putin has accepted Ukraine’s proposal of a ceasefire for Orthodox Easter, as the Kremlin’s top financial advisor meets Donald Trump’s envoys in the US.
Putin agreed to President Volodymyr Zelensky’s call for no attacks over the religious holiday.
“A ceasefire is declared from 1600 (1300 GMT) on 11 April until the end of the day on 12 April 2026,” the Kremlin said.
The acceptance came as the Kremlin’s Kirill Dmitriev again conferred with real estate developer Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.
No details were given beyond general statements about a potential resumption of Ukraine-Russia-US talks and US-Russia economic cooperation.
However, the US sanctions waiver for customers of Russia’s maritime oil exports, issued because of the US-Israel War on Iran, expires on Saturday.
Zelensky welcomed Putin’s agreement to the ceasefire, “People need an Easter free from threats and real movement toward peace, and Russia has a chance not to return to strikes after Easter as well.”
He challenged Trump over the sanctions waiver, asking if restrictions on Russia will be reimposed given a temporary US-Iran ceasefire announced on Wednesday.
I think that an answer to this question will expose the reason for lifting sanctions in the first place. We just need to wait and see.
In my view, Russia played the Americans again – played the President of the United States. The Russians lied about the role their oil supplies played in keeping oil markets stable.
Amid reports that the Trumpists are demanding Ukraine’s withdrawal from all of the strategic Donetsk region in return for security guarantees, Zelensky said:
We cannot simply speak about withdrawing from Donbas [the Donetsk and Luhansk regions] as a matter of compromise. Our withdrawal from Donbas would open up opportunities for the Russian Federation to occupy our most fortified territories without losses….
They could advance either toward Kharkiv or toward Dnipro, destroying our cities. And two major cities would be at risk – cities that, incidentally, generate a significant share of our GDP.
