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Putin Announces Surprise Ukraine Truce For May 8 To 10

Published

4 months ago

April 28, 2025

Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered a surprise three-day ceasefire from May 8-10, coinciding with Moscow’s World War II Victory Day commemorations, the Kremlin said Monday.

Read Also: Zelensky urges pressure on Russia to end war

Moscow said it expected Kyiv to issue a similar order, and that it stood ready to respond to any violations of the possible halt in fighting.

Putin made a similar order to stop combat over Easter – a truce that both sides accused the other of violating hundreds of times, but did lead to a temporary reduction in fighting.

“The Russian side is declaring a ceasefire during the 80th anniversary of Victory Day, from midnight on May 7-8 to midnight on May 10-11. All combat operations will be suspended during this period,” the Kremlin said in a statement.

“Russia believes that the Ukrainian side should follow this example. In the event of violations of the truce by the Ukrainian side, the Russian armed forces will give an adequate and effective response,” it added.

Putin last month rejected a US proposal for a full and unconditional 30-day ceasefire that had been accepted by Ukraine.

Kyiv and its European backers accused Putin of announcing the 30-hour Easter truce as a PR exercise and said he had little desire for peace.

Since launching its Ukraine offensive in February 2022, Russia has seized large parts of four Ukrainian regions and claimed them as its own, in addition to Crimea, which it annexed in 2014.

‘Tapping me along’

Putin’s order of a ceasefire comes at the beginning of what the United States indicated would be a crucial week for the chances of a ceasefire that could determine how long Washington keeps trying to broker a deal.

After a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at Pope Francis’s funeral on Saturday, Donald Trump questioned whether the Russian leader was serious about peace.

Trump says maybe Putin ‘doesn’t want to stop the war’ in Ukraine
“There was no reason for Putin to be shooting missiles into civilian areas, cities and towns, over the last few days. It makes me think that maybe he doesn’t want to stop the war, he’s just tapping me along,” Trump had said on Truth Social.

Russian missiles have killed dozens of civilians over the last month in large-scale strikes on Zelensky’s home city of Kryvyi Rig, the northeastern city of Sumy and the capital Kyiv.

Russia had earlier on Monday said it was ready to negotiate directly with Ukraine, but that recognition of its claims over five Ukrainian regions including Crimea were “imperative” to resolving the conflict.

Ukraine has denounced the annexations as an illegal land grab and says it will never recognise them, while European officials have warned that accepting Moscow’s demands set a dangerous precedent that could lead to future Russian aggression.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in an interview with Brazilian newspaper O Globo published Monday that “we remain open to negotiations.”

“But the ball is not in our court. So far, Kyiv has not demonstrated its ability to negotiate,” he said, adding Moscow’s position on the conflict was “well-known”.

“International recognition of Russia’s ownership of Crimea, Sevastopol, the Donetsk People’s Republic, the Lugansk People’s Republic, the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions is imperative,” he said, using the Kremlin’s names for the Ukrainian regions.

Zelensky said last Friday that Ukraine would “not legally recognise any temporarily occupied territories”, and has previously called the demilitarisation demand “incomprehensible”.

Trump, who boasted before his inauguration he could halt Russia’s assault on Ukraine within “24 hours”, launched a diplomatic offensive to stop the fighting after taking office in January.

But the White House has voiced frustration with both sides, as the conflict that has devastated swathes of eastern Ukraine and killed tens of thousands of people drags on.

Russia and Ukraine have not held direct talks on the fighting since the start of Moscow’s offensive in 2022.

Early Monday, a Russian attack on a Ukrainian village near the frontline city of Pokrovsk killed a married couple and another local resident, regional prosecutors said.

Meanwhile, Russia over the weekend announced it had taken full control of its Kursk region with the help of North Korean troops, more than eight months after Kyiv launched a cross-border ground assault.

Putin thanked North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Monday for help with the operation, which has denied Kyiv a key bargaining chip in future talks with Moscow.

The Russian army said Monday it had taken control of the village of Kamianka in the northeastern Kharkiv region, in its latest battlefield advance.

Headline

S’Africa Offers US New Trade Deal To Avoid 30% Tariff

Published

17 hours ago

August 12, 2025

Editor

South Africa will offer a “generous” new trade deal to the United States to avoid 30 percent tariffs, ministers said Tuesday.

Washington on Friday slapped the huge tariff on some South African exports, the highest in sub-Saharan Africa, despite efforts by Pretoria to negotiate a better arrangement to avoid massive job losses.

The ministers did not release details of the new offer but said previously discussed measures to increase imports of US poultry, blueberries, and pork had been finalised.

“When the document is eventually made public, I think you would see it as a very broad, generous and ambitious offer to the United States on trade,” Agriculture Minister John Steenhuisen said at a press briefing.

Officials have said the 30 per cent tariff could cost the economy around 30,000 jobs.

“Our goal is to demonstrate that South African exports do not pose a threat to US industries and that our trade relationship is, in fact, complementary,” Trade Minister Parks Tau said.

The United States is South Africa’s third-largest trading partner after the European Union and China.

However, South African exports account for only 0.25 per cent of total US imports and are “therefore not a threat to US production”, Tau said.

Steenhuisen said US diplomats raised issues related to South African domestic policies, which was a “surprise given the fact we thought we were in a trade negotiation”.

The two nations are at odds over a range of policies.

US President Donald Trump has criticised land and employment laws meant to redress racial inequalities that linger 30 years after the end of apartheid.

“Things like expropriation without compensation, things like some of the race laws in the country, are issues that they regard as barriers now to doing trade with South Africa,” he told AFP on the sidelines of the briefing.

“I think we’re seeing some form of a new era now where trade and tariffs are being used to deal with other issues, outside of what would generally be trade concerns,” Steenhuisen said.

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Over 600 Pilgrims Hospitalised After Chlorine Gas Leaked In Iraq

Published

3 days ago

August 10, 2025

Editor

More than 600 pilgrims in Iraq were briefly hospitalised with respiratory problems after inhaling chlorine as the result of a leak at a water treatment station, authorities said on Sunday.

The incident took place overnight on the route between the two Shiite holy cities of Najaf and Karbala, located in the centre and south of Iraq, respectively.

This year, several million Shiite Muslim pilgrims are expected to make their way to Karbala, which houses the shrines of the revered Imam Hussein and his brother Abbas.

There, they will mark the Arbaeen — the 40-day period of mourning during which Shiites commemorate the death of Hussein, grandson of the Prophet Mohammed.

In a brief statement, Iraq’s health ministry said, “621 cases of asphyxia have been recorded following a chlorine gas leak in Karbala”.

“All have received the necessary care and left the hospital in good health,” it said.

Security forces charged with protecting pilgrims, meanwhile, said the incident had been caused by “a chlorine leak from a water station on the Karbala-Najaf road”.

Much of Iraq’s infrastructure is in disrepair due to decades of conflict and corruption, with adherence to safety standards often lax.

In July, a massive fire at a shopping mall in the eastern city of Kut killed more than 60 people, many of whom suffocated in the toilets, according to authorities.

AFP

Headline

PHOTOS: US Soldier Searching For Her Nigerian Father

Published

3 days ago

August 10, 2025

Editor

Old photos of Zainab James Parents, Lateef Quadri and Claudine James. Credit: Facebook

A US soldier, Zainab James, has launched a public search for her Nigerian father, identified as Lateef Quadri

The 31-year-old took to Facebook on Sunday to share old photographs of her father and her late mother, Claudine James, including one where Claudine was pregnant with her.

According to Zainab, her mother became pregnant in 1993, and she was born in 1994. Sadly, she lost her mother.

Old photos of Zainab James Parents, Lateef Quadri and Claudine James. Credit: Facebook

In her post, Zainab wrote, “Update: Mother’s name : Claudine James, born Decenber 9, 1969 in Montego Bay, Jamaica (deceased) , Hey All! A real shot in the dark but why not! My mom(pictured) got pregnant with me in 1993 ( I was born 1994) while living in Brooklyn New York. I’m looking for my father or any of his family. All I know is he was Nigerian, possibly named Lateef Quadri or something like that. They didn’t have a long term relationship as he wasn’t present at my birth but he did choose my name. No one in my family met him either. Apparently she was friends with his sister who worked in a jewelry store with her.”