Quotes
For some reason, everyone is supposed to wait for May 8 and only then have a cease fire to ensure calm for Putin during the parade,
Zelenskiy said in his nightly video address
Well, because I think we’re still hoping to see that this effort works out in diplomacy and that we can bring these two sides closer together. I mean, the minute you start doing that kind of stuff, you’re walking away — you’re walking away from it,
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Meet the Press on Sunday, referencing sanctions on Russia
Our Prime Minister has received an invitation for the participation in the Victory Day celebrations. We will be announcing our participation in the Victory Day celebration at the appropriate time,
Randhir Jaiswal, spokesperson for the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said during a weekly media briefing in New Delhi
[Singh's visit to Moscow for the parade] is possible,
reported Russia's state-run news agency Tass, citing Indian government sourcesThe parties continued a fruitful exchange of views on the key aspects of Russia-US political dialogue, which has significantly intensified recently,
it added
If Russia truly wants peace, it must cease fire immediately,
Ukraine's foreign minister, Andrii Sybiha, said in a post on social media on Monday afternoon
Essentially, Ukraine traded territory it values the most -its own - for territory it didn't value and that it couldn't hold forever,
said Christopher McCallion, a fellow at Defense Priorities, a Washington DC think tank advocating for a strong U.S. military with a restrained foreign policyThere were probably some very embarrassed Russian generals but it was a completely haywire incursion on the part of the Ukrainians - it was just mental frankly,
David J. Betz, professor of war in the modern world at King's College London, told ReutersRussia has a strong history of successfully defending itself but unlike luckier countries which are able to defend themselves with geography, Russia tends to have to defend itself with human bodies and distance,
he saidWe've made real progress, but the last couple steps of this journey were always going to be the hardest,
Rubio said
The last week has been about figuring out how close are these sides really, and are they close enough that this merits a continued investment of our time as a mediator in this regard,
he added.jpg)
The president has made it clear he wants to see a permanent ceasefire first, to stop the killings, stop the bloodshed,
Leavitt told a White House press briefing
All the Russian statements about peace without them stopping the fire are a simple lie.”
That stance was reiterated by his chief of staff and close confidant, Andriy Yermak, who Monday morning, just before news broke of Putin’s proposal, wrote on Telegram
Putin’s promise will likely have nothing to do with a real ceasefire again,
it saidAnd this is what we are constantly proposing, for at least 30 days,
he added
We agreed unconditionally to the US proposal of a full interim ceasefire for 30 days. … Putin has now made statements about his alleged readiness for a ceasefire. 30 hours instead of 30 days.”
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha commented at the time
Putin’s truce on Victory Day means that no general long-term truce will be declared in April. This means that the negotiations are far from over. Russia is defending its demands at the negotiations,
pro-Kremlin political analyst Sergei Markov said in a Telegram post
For this period, all hostilities are stopped,
it addedWe are ready to reach a deal,
Lavrov saidThis week is going to be a really important week in which we have to make a determination about whether this is an endeavor that we want to continue to be involved in, or if it’s time to sort of focus on some other issues that are equally if not more important,
Rubio said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”