KYIV: Russia launched a wave of aerial attacks at Ukraine on Monday in an abrupt end to a fragile Easter truce, while Vladimir Putin pushed back against the idea of a month-long halt to strikes on civilian targets, as proposed by Kyiv.

The renewed attacks, confirmed by both Moscow and Kyiv, cast doubt on Donald Trump’s hopes for a broader ceasefire between the two sides, hours after the US president said he hoped a “deal” could be struck this week.

“Military action has resumed,” Putin told state TV reporters on Monday, after Ukrainian officials reported a wave of overnight drone and artillery strikes following the partially-observed 30-hour truce.

Each side had in any case accused the other of thousands of violations of the ceasefire, which Putin ordered in a surprise announcement on Saturday. “But overall, there was a fall in such activity,” Putin said, after listing alleged Ukrainian violations.

Kyiv’s delegation to visit London for peace talks

“We welcome this and are ready to look to the future.” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had welcomed the ceasefire and said his military would respond “symmetrically” to whatever Russia’s forces did on the battlefield.

Kyiv officials have accused Putin of seeking a cheap reputational victory by proposing the truce — which came hours after Trump threatened to walk away from efforts to secure peace in the three-year war if he did not see progress. The US president expressed hopes the two sides could strike an agreement in the coming days, though he did not elaborate on what he had in mind.

“Hopefully Russia and Ukraine will make a deal this week,” he said on his Truth Social platform. Asked about Trump’s remarks on Monday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow “hopes” US efforts “will yield results”.

Welcoming a day without air raid alerts across the country, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky proposed “to cease any strikes using long-range drones and missiles on civilian infrastructure for a period of at least 30 days.” Putin said Russia would “analyse” the idea, but questioned how it would work as he accused Ukraine of using civilian buildings for military purposes.

Ceasefire talks in London

A Ukrainian delegation will be in London on Wednesday for ceasefire talks, as European and US officials press for a halt to Russia’s invasion, Zelensky said. The talks will be a follow-up to a meeting in Paris last week, in which US Secretary of State Marco Rubio presented Washington’s plan for ending the three-year war.

US President Donald Trump has been pushing all sides to accept a ceasefire, but has failed to extract any major concessions from the Kremlin despite repeated negotiations and a brief truce announced by Russia’s Vladimir Putin over Easter.

“Already this Wednesday, our representatives will be working in London. Ukraine, the United Kingdom, France, and the United States — we are ready to move forward as constructively as possible,” Zelensky said on X on Monday.

“An unconditional ceasefire must be the first step toward peace,” he added. Zelensky did not say who else would attend, but Rubio suggested earlier that a US delegation would take part.

Published in Dawn, April 22nd, 2025