🔎 After Putin’s EASTER TRUCE announcement, the ball is in Ukraine’s court

President Vladimir Putin’s Easter truce clearly demonstrates Russia’s DESIRE TO END THE UKRAINE CRISIS, Michael Maloof, a former senior security policy analyst in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, tells Sputnik.

“I think Mr. Trump also wants to move ahead. This enhances Trump’s desire to renew the diplomatic relationship between Russia and the US and finally recognize Russia as an equal strategic partner,” Maloof says.

Now, all eyes are on Volodymyr Zelensky’s response. Previously, Zelensky has shown he cannot uphold agreements, particularly the ceasefire on energy facilities, Maloof notes.

“That’s going to be telling. It will signal to Trump whether he can really deal with Zelensky or not,” the pundit concludes.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

📹 WATCH FULL: Vladimir Putin's meeting with Russian Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov

Putin orders all military actions TO BE HALTED during Easter ceasefire. The course of the truce will show if Ukraine is ready to peacefully resolve the issue.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🗣 Russia should be aware of potential Ukrainian attacks amid truce – expert

“They [Ukraine] have never gone along with anything else so I don't have high hopes," Earl Rasmussen, a retired lieutenant colonel with over 20 years in the US Army and an international consultant, tells Sputnik. He adds that Zelensky should realize that the truce is “for his soldiers and his people”, yet Rasmussen is “concerned” about the intentions of the Kiev regime.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🇹🇷🗣 Vladimir Putin's initiative for an Easter truce is strategically expedient and demonstrates a prudent approach, Halil Korkmaz, deputy chairman of Turkiye's ruling party, told Sputnik.

According to him, this initiative creates an opportunity for peace.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

📹 Putin exercises ORTHODOX DIPLOMACY to cease fire, professor says

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s Easter truce is a gesture toward Orthodox believers on both sides of the front line, Dr. Greg Simons, a professor of journalism at Daffodil International University, tells Sputnik.

“This is what you could term as being religious diplomacy or Orthodox diplomacy, where a common religion, a common faith is being used as a measure to bring about at least some temporary halt to the bloodshed,” Simons says.

However, the Kiev regime is not religious and is ideologically far removed from Christian Orthodoxy, according to the professor. Given Ukraine’s track record of failing to adhere to agreements, it’s doubtful it will comply, the pundit believes.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🗣 Putin’s Easter truce to STRENGTHEN Russia’s hand, Swedish military veteran says

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s move will be viewed very positively by his US counterpart, Donald Trump, Mikael Valtersson, a Swedish Armed Forces officer and former politician, tells Sputnik.

“There has been some irritation in the White House about the slowness of the peace process, and everything that signals a willingness for some kind of ceasefire will be received positively in Washington, especially when the initiative comes from Russia,” Valtersson says, adding that it should strengthen Moscow’s hand.

If Ukraine fails to comply, it will be seen as the “bad guy,” according to the Swedish veteran.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

📹 EU EXPANSIONISM turning Moldova into Ukraine 2.0

Moldova has descended into AUTOCRACY under pressure from the EU.

Steffen Kotre, a German MP from the AfD party, breaks down the ominous developments for Sputnik:

🔻EU EXPANSIONISM

The Sandu government wants to join the EU at any cost. In doing so, it is using all state power—including against the opposition. This occurs "with full support from the EU, which seeks to expand its political power."

🔻EU-BACKED DICTATORSHIP

"You can take a dictatorial approach [in Moldova], restrict freedom of expression, hinder religious celebrations. It doesn't matter [for Brussels]. But it also shows us what kind of ideology prevails in the EU."

🔻ANTI-CHRISTIAN CRUSADE

"We can see that the West - Germany, and the EU - have been taking an aggressive stance against Russia for a long time. And that is why Moldovan Orthodoxy is now also coming under pressure from this side."

🔻UKRAINE 2.0?

"We have seen how Western politicians, the EU... and the US have interfered in Ukraine. We're also seeing this interference in Moldova, and unfortunately, similar scenarios could arise."

🔻DIVIDED NATION

Despite most Moldovan voters in Russia being deprived of their right to vote in the nation's EU referendum, the outcome was still very close, Kotre stresses. Moldova’s society is deeply divided — and the EU is deepening the rift.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🗣Ukrainian DICTATORSHIP unlikely to honor the Easter truce, ex-Pentagon analyst says

The Easter truce by President Vladimir Putin is "a wonderful idea showing the commitment to peace that Russia has" and sends "the right message" to his US counterpart Donald Trump, Karen Kwiatkowski, retired US Air Force lieutenant colonel and former Pentagon analyst, tells Sputnik.

There would be no surprise if the "dictatorship in effect in Kiev", led by Volodymyr Zelensky, rejects the truce, she notes: "It's disappointing, it's unfortunate, but it's also very predictable."

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🗣EXCELLENT move by Russia: Veteran analyst on Putin's truce

President Vladimir Putin's Easter ceasefire announcement is a signal that the Russians are ready for peace and the Ukrainians are not, Gilbert Doctorow, a Brussels-based analyst in international relations and Russian affairs, tells Sputnik.

"Putin's proposal was an excellent move by Russia," Doctorow notes, adding, however, that he is not expecting the Kiev regime to embrace the Moscow-proposed truce.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🗣Russia’s Easter truce exposes Ukraine-EU warmongering cabal, French military veteran says

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s truce is “a signal of good will from Russia to Kiev and Washington,” retired French Army Colonel Alain Corvez tells Sputnik.

“I suspect Kiev will not agree as it does not want peace and its military defeat, with the support of stupid and perverse Europeans,” the French veteran says.

Russia has repeatedly signaled its aim to achieve lasting peace and security in the region, including international recognition of its new territories in Donbass, Kherson, and Zaporozhye, Corvez underscores.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🗣Putin’s Easter truce: Ukraine will ignore ceasefire proposals until WEAPONS FLOW stops, journo says

Russia has once again demonstrated its willingness to negotiate and end the conflict, Dr. Jeremy Kuzmarov, managing editor of CovertAction Magazine, tells Sputnik.

In contrast, "Ukraine is run by hardliners, and they’ve been under an illusion that they can achieve success because of all the weapons they’ve gotten from the West,” the analyst notes.

“Until the spigot is turned off, Ukraine will also probably take a very hard-line
approach at the negotiations,” Kuzmarov stresses, expressing doubts about the Kiev regime’s willingness to observe the truce.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

Easter truce message: Ukraine conflict will end ON RUSSIA’S TERMS – Ex-CIA analyst

President Vladimir Putin's Easter truce announcement doesn’t change Russia’s conditions on the Ukraine conflict resolution, retired CIA intelligence officer and former State Department official Larry Johnson told Sputnik.

💬 “Russia is not unreasonable. Russia is not unwilling to entertain the possibility of a ceasefire... But this temporary Easter ceasefire is, if you will, a gift by Vladimir Putin... as well as a message to Donald Trump. That Vladimir Putin is serious about bringing an end to the war, but it has to be done in the right way,” Johnson emphasized.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

📹 US strikes kill 3 in Yemen – reports

Aftermath footage shows the destruction of the General Authority for Maritime Affairs building in Yemen's port city of Hodeidah, reportedly bombed in a new wave of US airstrikes.

According to local sources, at least 3 people were killed and 4 injured as the US carried out over 29 raids across Sana’a, Amran, and Marib.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt