Vladimir Putin finally offers an unconditional truce with Ukraine. Only HICS: it will take place in more than a week and it will only last … three days, between May 8 and 11. This is not really what Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky had in mind when they reiterated, on Saturday in Rome, their wish to see the war end after three years of fighting. Since the discussions in Saudi Arabia in March, the American and Ukrainian presidents agreed, concerning a truce, on the energy infrastructure and then at sea, and sought to force Russia to accept a total, unconditional and long enough cease-fire to start peace negotiations. Vladimir Putin replied there by drawing up a list of maximalist requests and inadmissible in the eyes of kyiv.
If the Russian president chose to announce a truce this Monday, it is not only for “humanitarian reasons”, but also because it is planned at the time of the celebration of May 9, the day of the victory of Russia against Nazi Germany during the Second World War. This date corresponds to the largest secular celebration in the country, which organizes immense military parades every year to claim its power and its place on the international scene. The event is so symbolic for the Kremlin that rumors circulated on a potential meeting between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin in Moscow for this occasion.
The purpose of this announcement is also to show the American president “good faith” of the Russian regime while the billionaire expressed doubts about his determination to end the war on Saturday. This initiative could be enough to appease, for a time, an impatient Donald Trump. But, for her part, kyiv, not fooled, described this truce as “facade”, without specifying if it would respect it. The Kremlin did not fail to blame him, exhorting him to “follow [son] example “.
