Easter truce shows Vladimir Putin's desire to divide the West again

Russian President Vladimir Putin's "Easter truce" in Russia's war against Ukraine is a ruse, the cynicism of which became apparent when the Russians continued their attacks, breaking their own promises, writes The Telegraph.

"Some see his (Putin's) willingness to even consider such a move as a sign that he may be ready to agree to a peace deal. But Easter was a convenient time to try to keep the gullible American president on board amid signs that Donald Trump is losing patience with the Russian leader," the article states.

The publication recalls how Trump said he could end the war in a day or at least by Easter, but he failed to fulfill these two promises. In particular, the US president proposed a 30-day ceasefire, to which Ukraine agreed, but Moscow decided not to support this proposal until a list of conditions unacceptable to Kiev is met.

Meanwhile, this weekend, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that there was no point in continuing the process if Putin continued to hold his own, which is why the Easter truce was announced.

"It is difficult not to see this as another attempt by the Kremlin to make Trump look foolish and distance Washington from Ukraine, where there are fears that the Americans will lose interest and stop supplying weapons and aid. After three years of bombing, the greatest insult to the Russian leader is to be told that he acted for "humanitarian" reasons. If that were the case, he would have stopped the conflict today and withdrawn his troops," the publication notes.

In turn, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that despite the fact that the Russian army is trying to create a general impression of a ceasefire, Russia is still trying to advance in some areas.

However, optimists claim that the "truce" was achieved thanks to high-level diplomacy between the White House and the Kremlin.

"But if the ceasefire is well-intentioned, why did it happen only when it seemed that the Americans were going to pull the plug on the entire process? At the very least, this can be seen as a concession on the part of the Russian leader, who steadfastly refused to consider any compromise. "But Putin is doing nothing that is not calculated to serve his own interests and further divide the West, whose support for Ukraine, once so fervent, is becoming increasingly half-hearted," the British newspaper's article states.