The Easter Peace in Ukraine
Sophia Miceli
Stillman Staff Writer
There have been many peace talks to end the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Easter time, which is supposed to be a time with hope and celebration was instead met with an ongoing war between these countries. An Idea of an “Easter Peace” became something the people of Ukraine desperately wanted to take a break from fighting and hold onto their traditions. This past Easter, President Vladimir Putin of Russia announced that there would be a short pause on the war for the Orthodox Easter from April 19th to April 20th for humanitarian reasons. Ukraine immediately accepted this proposal, and this was the first time the brutal fighting had been officially paused since the beginning of the war. People were finally able to celebrate with families and attend church and religious services without being afraid of being attacked at any moment.
However, the fighting did not completely stop because both sides were skeptical of each other and claimed that the opposing side still committed military actions during this time. The Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, claimed that even though Russia announced a pause in the war, their fighters continued missile attacks on the front line during the truce. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that Ukraine would only favor a genuine and real ceasefire and requested an extension on the pause. Russia also claimed that Ukraine was not fully honoring the ceasefire either. This shows how genuine peace is hard to accomplish. Even though this temporary truce was meant to celebrate the holiday, there were also political motives. President of the United States, Donald Trump, has been speaking and pushing progress in Ukraine and Russia, making peace. Some believe that the pause was meant to appease President Donald Trump and to send a message to ease the tensions.
The thirty hour break had no progress, even though it was supposed to be a step in the right direction toward peace. But Ukrainians were still able to gather in churches for Easter traditions. After the first failed temporary ceasefire, Putin proposed a second temporary pause for fighting at the beginning of May. Ukraine responded by saying that they wanted a more meaningful pause, such as a full 30 day pause to have time for real negotiations. Vladimir Putin responded by announcing another three day ceasefire in Ukraine from May 8th to May 10th to coincide with Russia’s Victory Day celebrations. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy criticized this announcement because he sees genuinely saving lives for steps toward peace as more important than having military parades. Analysts also critique these ideas because they believe Putin is doing this to save embarrassment during the events, to avoid a ceasefire, and a potential defeat. These regions are still far from true peace, but hopefully this ceasefire will go better than the first one.
Contact Sophia at sophia.miceli@student.shu.edu