Adam Goldsmith
Live reporter

Image source, Getty Images

In our coverage this afternoon, we’ve referred to a proposed 30-day ceasefire deal that was agreed between Ukraine and the US, before Russia declined its terms.

Here's a look back at what was included in the agreement.

On 11 March, US and Ukrainian officials announced a proposal had been reached for a 30-day ceasefire.

This truce deal would have gone beyond Zelensky’s initial proposals for a partial truce in the sky and at sea, with US President Donald Trump telling reporters the plans were for a “total ceasefire”.

This marked a resumption of relations between the countries after Zelensky’s blazing White House row with Trump prompted the US to cut off intelligence and security assistance to Ukraine.

After the successful talks in Saudi Arabia, the US presented the proposal to Russia, which declined to accept the terms for a halt in the fighting.

However, Vladimir Putin did later support Trump's idea for Ukraine and Russia to stop attacking each other's energy infrastructure for 30 days.

Putin likely to use this truce to convince US that Russia wants to end the warpublished at 17:46 British Summer Time

17:46 BST

Steve Rosenberg
Russia editor

This is not the unconditional comprehensive ceasefire that the United States had originally been pushing for – and that Ukraine had agreed to.

Still, Vladimir Putin has ordered his troops to hold fire for a period of 30 hours.

Speaking to the Russia’s chief of the general staff, President Putin announced an Easter truce in Ukraine – from 18:00 tonight local time (19:00 GMT) until the end of Sunday. He claimed to be guided by humanitarian considerations.

He said he expected Ukraine to follow suit, but that Russian troops should be ready to repel any possible violations and provocations by the enemy.

Russia’s truce, he added, would show how sincere the Ukrainian leadership was about peace talks.

The announcement comes a day after President Trump warned America would “take a pass” on brokering a peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine unless he saw progress soon.

President Putin is likely to use this unilateral truce to convince the White House that Russia – which launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine more than three years ago – is serious about ending the war.

But critics of the Kremlin will be sceptical that such a brief pause in hostilities – if it happens – will lead to lasting peace.

Putin's proposal puts Zelensky in a difficult positionpublished at 17:36 British Summer Time

17:36 BST

James Waterhouse
Ukraine correspondent

Kyiv says Russia is still firing artillery on the eastern front line and accused Moscow of another lie.

Vladimir Putin has announced a last-minute holiday truce before, in early 2023. At the time I reported from the front-line city of Bakhmut. The artillery fire didn’t stop, and invading troops didn’t stop advancing. Bakhmut would go on to be captured after being reduced to rubble.

Until this point Kyiv has agreed to America’s wide-ranging ceasefire proposal and has blamed Moscow for stalling peace efforts.

Ukrainian troops will not suddenly down their weapons, but it does potentially leave President Zelensky in a difficult position, where, if Russia does accuse him of breaking a ceasefire, a Moscow-friendly White House could fire the blame in his direction.

Russia’s overall invasion of Ukraine is into its 12th year, and defending troops aren’t expecting good will gestures to just materialise.

Image source, Getty Images

International reaction is starting to come in about Putin's announcement of an Easter truce.

Czech Republic's Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský calls for people to avoid falling "for his [Putin's] propaganda".

"Air raid sirens across Ukraine just minutes after the so-called Easter truce was announced show how serious Putin really is," he says on social media.

"Ukraine accepted the ceasefire a month ago," he adds, referring to the US proposal for a 30-day initial ceasefire.

"Putin keeps sabotaging every step toward peace."

A Kyiv-based MP says air raid sirens sounded in the Ukrainian capital in the moments after Vladimir Putin announced an Easter truce.

"Drones were entering Kyiv," MP Lisa Yasko explains, before suggesting that the city witnessed a "one hour" attack. "So it doesn't feel like a ceasefire," she says.

"A ceasefire for one day, even if it happens, is like a joke," she tells BBC News Channel.

Yasko suggests that the surprise announcement could be a manoeuvre by the Russian president to appease the United States.

"We need a real ceasefire, with real conditions met by Putin," she adds.

Image source, Getty Images

We're now hearing a response from Ukraine's foreign minister to Putin's proposal for an Easter truce.

Andriy Sybiha hasn't given a clear "yes" or "no" to the proposal, but says that Putin's words "cannot be trusted", and that "Russia can agree at any time to the proposal for a full and unconditional 30-day ceasefire".

Sybiha describes how back in March, Ukraine agreed to US proposals for a full 30-day ceasefire, but claims Russia has instead “increased terror against Ukraine”.

"Putin has now made statements about his alleged readiness for a cease-fire. 30 hours instead of 30 days,” Sybiha says. "Unfortunately, we have had a long history of his statements not matching his actions."

"We want to see Russian forces actually cease fire in all directions. We also urge all of our partners and the international community to be vigilant."

Vladimir Putin's surprise truce announcement comes at a time when negotiations for peace in Ukraine appeared to have stalled.

As we continue to gather more reaction, here's what we know and don't know about Putin's "Easter truce" declaration:

• Russia said there will be a temporary end to hostilities in Ukraine from 16:00 BST today to 22:00 BST tomorrow
• Putin said Russian troops will be ready to react if there are provocations or violations of the truce
• The Russian leader made the comments as he met with Chief of Russia's General Staff Valery Gerasimov today
• Ukraine is yet to accept or reject the truce - the full details of which have not been shared
• After Putin's announcement, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky condemned drones over Ukraine and said it reveals his "true attitude toward Easter and human life"

• Russia's ministry of defence said the truce had been "guided by humanitarian considerations"
• The announcement from the Kremlin comes after US President Donald Trump threatened to "pass" on Ukraine peace talks if no progress was made on a deal

Since the announcement of an "Easter truce" by Putin, Russia's Ministry of Defence says an exchange of 246 prisoners of war has taken place.

The department adds 31 wounded Ukrainians were also exchanged for 15 wounded Russians as a "gesture of goodwill".

The ministry says that all of the released Russians will receive "treatment and rehabilitation" in medical institutions.

In his most recent post on X, Zelensky calls the return of 277 Ukrainian servicemen "one of the best pieces of news that can be".

"I thank everyone who made this return of our people possible," he says, adding he is "especially grateful to the United Arab Emirates for their mediation".

According to the Ukrainian president, 4,552 people - including soldiers and civilians - have been brought back home from Russian imprisonment since the start of the war.

Image source, Getty Images

While setting out the terms of his 30-hour Easter truce, Russian President Vladimir Putin also accuses Ukraine of violating an energy infrastructure agreement.

"We know that the Kyiv regime has violated the agreement on non-strikes on energy infrastructure more than 100 times," he suggests.

The two sides agreed in late March to pause strikes on energy infrastructure targets for 30 days. Both Russia and Ukraine have since accused each other of ignoring this agreement on multiple occasions.

• As a reminder: The "Easter truce" announced by Putin begins at 16:00 BST and should be in effect now. But we have not had any confirmation from Ukraine that this is the case

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has just posted on X saying air raid alerts "are spreading across" the country., external

Describing the situation as "yet another attempt by Putin to play with human lives", Zelensky says: "Shahed drones in our skies reveal Putin’s true attitude toward Easter and toward human life."

It is not clear if Zelensky is referring to Putin's recently announced "Easter truce" here.

Zelensky adds Ukrainian forces are "holding positions" in Russia's Kursk region and Ukraine's "zone of control" has expanded in the Russian Belgorod region.

James Waterhouse
Ukraine correspondent

Wording is everything.

“Kyiv must follow our example...We must be prepared for Ukraine to violate the truce.”

Donald Trump has been frustrated with the Kremlin dragging its heels in his ceasefire negotiations. Now, the Kremlin can portray itself as the solution.

This is also not the first time Vladimir Putin has suddenly announced a pause in fighting.

In early 2023, he announced a holiday truce. I was in the front line city of Bakhmut at the time. The artillery fire didn’t stop, and his invading troops didn’t stop advancing. Bakhmut would go on to be captured after being reduced to rubble.

Ukrainian forces aren’t suddenly going to down their weapons. Russia’s overall invasion of Ukraine is into its 12th year, and good will gestures don’t just materialise.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is yet to react to the latest announcement from Moscow of a temporary end to hostilities.

Yesterday, Zelensky strongly criticised missile strikes that took place in Ukraine.

"This is how Russia began this Good Friday - with ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, Shaheds - maiming our people and cities," he said in a post on X.

Putin's declaration of an "Easter truce" comes after President Trump said the US could step back from peace talks if either side made it "difficult".

We are also yet to hear from US President Donald Trump on Putin's latest remarks.

Image source, Reuters

Russian President Vladimir Putin has announced a temporary truce in Ukraine, according to Russian media reports.

This comes after Trump said the US will “take a pass” on brokering further Russia-Ukraine talks if either make it “very difficult” to reach a peace deal.

Speaking on Friday, the US president told reporters that while he was not expecting a deal to happen in "a specific number of days", he wanted it done "quickly".

Earlier, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned they would walk away if there were no signs of progress within days.

Since the US proposed an initial 30-day ceasefire, Moscow has placed a number of conditions on it happening.

Last month, Ukraine said it would accept the US-brokered deal, with Rubio telling reporters the “ball is now in their [Russia’s] court”.

The Russian Ministry of Defence has released a statement confirming that Russia will stop all military operations from 16:00 BST today (18:00 local time) until 22:00 BST on 20 April (midnight Moscow time).

The ministry says all military actions have been ordered to stop, adding that the decision was “guided by humanitarian considerations”.

They say they expect the Ukrainian side to do the same.

“At the same time, our troops must be ready to repel possible violations of the truce and provocations from the enemy, any of its aggressive actions,” the ministry says in a statement that has been translated.

Image source, Reuters

We can now bring you some further details from Putin's surprise announcement.

According to a translation of comments made by Putin, he orders all military actions to be stopped in Ukraine for the truce period and says he expects Ukraine to do the same.

In the video that is being shared online, Putin adds Russian troops will be ready to react if there are provocations or violations of the truce.

Adam Goldsmith
Live reporter

In the past few moments, Russian media has been reporting that President Vladimir Putin has declared an Easter truce in Ukraine.

Volodymyr Zelensky is yet to respond, but the Kremlin says that it expects Ukraine to follow its example.

According to Reuters news agency, Russia is expected to cease hostilities from 16:00 BST today (18:00 local time) until 22:00 BST on 20 April (midnight Moscow time).

There is no indication whether Putin’s Easter truce will lead to a negotiation on a longer period of peace.

This comes after US President Donald Trump warned the US will “take a pass” on brokering further talks if Moscow or Kyiv make it difficult to reach a peace deal.