A Ukrainian negotiator has said Vladimir Putin’s war funds may be running out soon – Ukraine also said Russian strikes have continued after Putin proposed a ceasefire
Ukraine has said Vladimir Putin’s war funds are running out as Russia continued to strike Ukrainian positions despite declaring a ceasefire.
“The ceasefire is not being observed by the Russian side,” said Serhii Kolesnychenko, a communications officer for the 148th Separate Artillery Brigade.
On Thursday, Russian President Putin declared a 32-hour ceasefire over the Orthodox Easter weekend, ordering Russian forces to halt hostilities from 4pm on Saturday until the end of Sunday.
Mr Kolesnychenk said that while artillery fire had paused in the sector where his brigade was working, at the junction of the Donetsk, Dnipropetrovsk, and Zaporizhzhia regions, Russian forces continued to use drones to strike Ukrainian positions.
Ukrainian forces were responding with “silence to silence and fire to fire”, Mr Kolesnychenko said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky promised to abide by the ceasefire, describing it as an opportunity to build on peace initiatives. But he warned there would be a swift military response to any violations.
“Easter should be a time of silence and safety. A ceasefire (at) Easter could also become the beginning of real movement toward peace,” Zelensky wrote in an online post on Saturday.
But he added: “We all understand who we are dealing with. Ukraine will adhere to the ceasefire and respond strictly in kind.”
Ukraine has said Putin’s war funds are running out after Russia said a peace deal was “on the horizon”.
Lt-Gen Kyrylo Budanov, Ukraine’s top negotiator, said to Bloomberg that Russia is negotiating because “they all understand the war needs to end”. The 40-year-old added: “I don’t think it will be long.”
Budanov claimed Russia was shifting its stance because of the “trillions” spent on the conflict. Russia has spend around 15.5 trillion roubles since the illegal full-scale invasion of Ukraine in2022, around £144 billion.
It is not clear how a peace deal may develop. Russia has not shifting from its maximalist stance and Zelensky has refused to agree to handing over captured land.
