Xinhua News Agency Moscow/Kiev, April 21 (Xinhua) Russian President Putin said on the 21st that Russia actively treats any peace initiatives and hopes that Ukraine will have the same attitude towards it. That night, Ukrainian President Zelensky posted on social media that Ukraine, the United Kingdom, France and the United States representatives will hold talks in London, England on the 23rd to discuss issues such as ceasefires.

  Putin: Russia actively treats any peace initiative

  According to a message released by the Kremlin website on the 21st, Putin said in response to reporters' questions that day that military operations have resumed after the Easter ceasefire period ended. Russia "always have a positive attitude towards the ceasefire, so it put forward this initiative." Now Ukraine is trying to "seize the initiative" to propose to expand the ceasefire time and scope of facilities. The Russian side will think about this and carefully evaluate it.

  Putin said that Russia has seen that after the Easter ceasefire initiative, Ukraine has committed nearly 5,000 violations, but the overall combat activities have decreased, and Russia welcomes this.

  Speaking about the proposal not to crack down on civilian infrastructure, Putin said that Russia "does not rule out" the possibility of bilateral dialogue on this. The Russian side will analyze all the situations clearly and make corresponding decisions.

  This photo released on the Kremlin website on March 12 shows Russian President Putin (left) and Russian Armed Forces Chief of Staff Gerasimov shook hands at a command center in the Kursk region. Posted by Xinhua News Agency (Photo provided by the Kremlin website)

  When meeting with Russian Armed Forces Chief of Staff Gerasimov on the 19th, Putin said that on the occasion of Easter on the 20th, the Russian army will stop all combat operations from 18:00 on the 19th to 0:00 on the 21st. Russia hopes that Ukraine will follow Russia's approach. Zelensky posted on social media on the same day, proposing to extend the ceasefire period until after Easter, saying 30 hours are not enough to build true trust. On the 21st, Zelensky posted a message on social media to call on Russia to implement a full ceasefire in the next 30 days after Easter. Ukraine will respond to Russia's actions in a reciprocal way, "responding to the ceasefire with a ceasefire and responding to the attack."

  Zelensky: Ukraine, Britain, France and the United States will discuss ceasefire in London

  Zelensky posted on social media on the evening of the 21st that representatives of Ukraine, the United Kingdom, France and the United States will hold talks in London on the 23rd to discuss issues such as ceasefires.

  Zelensky said he had a "good and specific" call with British Prime Minister Stamer that day. Ukrainian representatives will hold talks with representatives of Britain, France and the United States in London on the 23rd. Ukraine is willing to move forward "in the most constructive way" to achieve an unconditional ceasefire, and "then build a true and lasting peace."

  Zelensky said an unconditional ceasefire should be the first step towards peace.

  On February 28, US President Trump (center) welcomed Ukrainian President Zelensky (right) at the White House in the capital Washington. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Hu Yousong

  US President Trump posted on social media on the 20th that he hopes Russia and Ukraine will reach an "an agreement" to end the conflict "this week." He also said that after Russia and Ukraine reach an agreement, both sides will "do big business" with the United States.

  Trump recently said that if negotiations on ending the Russian-Ukrainian conflict cannot make clear progress in the short term, the US will no longer participate in mediation. (Reporters: Jiang Youlin, Li Dongxu)

[Editor in charge: Zhao Wenhan]