Zelensky says Putin’s call for truce is a manipulation

Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Tuesday, April 29, 2025, called for an immediate month-long ceasefire.

This comes after Vladimir Putin unilaterally announced a three-day truce for next month during a second world war anniversary.

The Ukrainian president said: “Now there’s a new attempt at manipulation.

For some reason, everyone is supposed to wait for May 8 and only then have a ceasefire to ensure calm for Putin during the parade.”

He added:

“We value people’s lives and not parades. We believe that the world believes that there is no reason to wait for May 8.

And the ceasefire should be not for a few days only to resume the killing afterward.”

Ukrainian officials also pointed out that Russia announced a similar truce over the Easter period only to violate it.

The Russian president suggested the ceasefire in May to mark the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Soviet Union in the second world war.

He also said Kyiv should follow Moscow’s example.

Analysts sposit that if the ceasefire is respected by both sides, it would mark the first full ceasefire since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine more than three years ago.

A series of blasts were heard in Kyiv in the early hours of Tuesday after Ukraine’s air force issued air raid alerts for the capital, a Reuters witness reported.

Ukraine’s military said air defence systems were trying to repel an air attack.

Germany’s incoming chancellor, Friedrich Merz, has promised to put staunch support of Ukraine at the heart of his government.

This was after announcing that a pro-Kyiv foreign policy expert and former soldier will be the new foreign minister.

Merz said that Johann Wadephul, a conservative MP who has long advised Merz on foreign policy, would become the new foreign minister.

Wadephul has been a supporter of military backing for Ukraine.

He recently spoke with the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) newspaper about the war in Ukraine.

He said the war “is not about a few square kilometres in Ukraine but rather the fundamental question of whether we will allow a classic war of conquest in Europe”.

Merz himself said Vladimir Putin’s invasion was nothing less than a battle “against the entire political order of the European continent”.

Boris Pistorius, a social democrat who is widely expected to continue in the role as defence minister, said Donald Trump’s peace deal proposals were “akin to a capitulation”.

US secretary of state Marco Rubio told his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov that the US is committed to working to end “this senseless war”, the state department said.

State department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said in a readout of Sunday’s call, which was already announced by Russia:

“The United States is serious about facilitating an end to this senseless war.”

She said Rubio spoke to Lavrov about “the next steps in Russia-Ukraine peace talks and the need to end the war now”.

The call took place before Putin on Monday offered a three-day truce.

The Guardian’s Luke Harding has been reporting from frontline battles near Ukraine’s Oskil River.

“Before the war, it was a place for recreation.

“Visitors would grill kebabs on its sandy beaches or go kayaking past a ridge of low chalk hills and a small national park.

“Now it is a zone of war, waged by drones, artillery and bombs.

“The Russians are trying to expand a slender bridgehead on the river’s right bank, near Dvorichna,” he writes.

Despite US attempts to negotiate an end to hostilities, the Kremlin is still trying to grab more territory.

On Monday, Putin announced a ceasefire to coincide with Victory Day and a parade in Red Square celebrating the Soviet Union’s defeat in the second world war of Nazi Germany.

Ukrainian commentators pointed out he had announced a similar truce over Easter only to massively violate it.

Last autumn Russia made military gains.

Recently its progress has slowed.

The main thrust is in the industrial eastern Donetsk region.

In one city, Pokrovsk, Ukraine’s troops have stabilised the frontline.

In another, Kostyantynivka, the Russians creep forward.

Putin appears determined to seize the entire oblast, ignoring Donald Trump’s plea: “Vladimir, stop!”

The US president’s solution to the conflict includes giving Crimea and four eastern Ukrainian regions to Moscow.

Ukrainian soldiers said this would create a disastrous geopolitical precedent.

One observed: “It would legitimise the redistribution of territory by force and open a Pandora’s box around the world.

“Putin would go on to attack the Baltics, Finland or Moldova.

“It’s our country and state. It’s not up to Trump to decide where our borders lie.”

Russia’s latest assault has brought fresh misery to a population that had already experienced occupation.

For Diaspora Digital Media Updates click on Whatsapp, or Telegram. For eyewitness accounts/ reports/ articles, write to: citizenreports@diasporadigitalmedia.com. Follow us on X (Fomerly Twitter) or Facebook