Ukraine to ask US mediators to pass on Easter ceasefire offer to Russia

Ukraine’s president hosts EU leaders to mark Bucha massacre anniversary, says negotiator Umerov in Turkiye for talks.Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said he will ask US mediators to relay his offer of an Easter truce to Russia, halting attacks on the country’s energy facilities, amid an ongoing deadlock in peace talks.Speaking on Tuesday on the sidelines of an event to mark the fourth anniversary of Ukraine’s Bucha massacre, Zelenskyy said he would “definitely convey this proposal” to the United States in online talks with US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner scheduled for Wednesday.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Drones strike Russia’s Ust-Luga port again as EU officials visit Ukrainelist 2 of 3Zelenskyy arrives in Jordan to bolster security tieslist 3 of 3Could Ukraine’s drone expertise serve Gulf countries?end of list“I will definitely ask them to pass it on to the Russian side,” he said before the meeting, in which the status of stalled US-brokered peace talks with Russia will be discussed. “We are ready for a ceasefire for the Easter holidays … We are ready for any compromises, except compromises involving our dignity and sovereignty.”Earlier, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov had reacted coolly to Zelenskyy’s previous talk of an energy truce. “From Zelenskyy’s statements we’ve read, we haven’t seen any clearly formulated initiatives for an Easter truce,” he said.“We reiterate: Zelenskyy must take responsibility and make the appropriate decision so that we can achieve peace, not a ceasefire,” he added.Zelenskyy’s offer came a day after he said some of his country’s allies had sent Kyiv “signals” about the possibility of scaling back its long-range strikes on Russia’s oil sector as global energy prices surge.Zelenskyy said Ukraine was ready to reciprocate if Russia stopped attacking the Ukrainian energy system.