Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Thursday that Russia’s proclamation of a limited ceasefire for its World War Two commemorations exposed the “strange and inappropriate” logic of its leaders.
Speaking in his nightly video address in the final hours before the Russian ceasefire went into effect at midnight (2100 GMT), Zelenskiy said Moscow wanted “to hold their parade, to go out onto the square safely for an hour once a year, and then continue killing, killing our people and waging war”.
“The Russians are already talking about strikes after May 9. Strange and certainly inappropriate of the Russian leadership.”
There were no reports of Russian strikes or other military activity after the deadline passed. Air raid alerts had been announced for some Ukrainian regions in the final hours before it went into effect and the air force listed one brief alert for southeastern Ukraine after midnight.
Zelenskiy’s comments appeared to have been prepared before Russia’s defence ministry announced an expanded ceasefire – from midnight on May 8 until May 10 – to mark the anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany in what Russians call the Great Patriotic War.
As Ukraine’s top negotiator, Rustem Umerov, arrived in Miami for meetings with U.S. negotiators on moving toward a peace accord, Zelenskiy said that achieving peace in Europe was the best way to honour those who fought against Nazi Germany.
“Just as 81 years ago, so now America can help peace with a just and strong stance against the aggressor,” he said. “And it is important that the American people now view Russia precisely in this way – as an aggressor.”
Zelenskiy said Russia had continued to flout a ceasefire starting from the night of May 5-6 that had been proposed by Kyiv in response to the declared Russian ceasefire. Ukraine, he said, had received “only new Russian strikes and new Russian threats”.
Moscow did not confirm it would adhere to Kyiv’s proposal.
Zelenskiy expressed satisfaction at the outcome of Ukraine’s latest long-range strikes, including an attack on a Russian small missile carrier on the Caspian Sea and the second assault in eight days on a Lukoil-owned refinery in Perm, near the Ural Mountains.
In earlier comments, Zelenskiy said Russian forces had been attacking Ukraine with drones, missile strikes, shelling and assaults along the front line since the start of the day.
“In a mirror response to Russian strikes, we will continue our long-range sanctions. And in response to Russia’s willingness to move toward diplomacy, we will proceed along the path of diplomacy,” Zelenskiy said.
(Reporting by Ron Popeski; )
