FM on broken ceasefire: Russia only cares about its parade, not real peace
Minister of Foreign Affairs Margus Tsahkna (Eesti 200) criticized Russia's violation of Ukraine's ceasefire on Wednesday morning, saying it shows Moscow does not care about peace.
On Monday, Russia and Ukraine declared unilateral ceasefires ahead of commemorations held by Russia to mark the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany on Saturday.
Russia said it would hold a ceasefire on May 8 and 9 and threatened a "massive missile strike" on central Kyiv if Ukraine violated the truce.
But Kyiv announced it would observe an open-ended ceasefire from midnight on May 6, and that Ukraine would act "symmetrically" from that point on.
The two ceasefires appear to be unilateral - meaning the two sides have not agreed on their terms, length or monitoring, the BBC reported.
On Wednesday morning, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said Russia violated its ceasefire overnight.
Tsahkna said that by breaking the ceasefire, Russia demonstrated that it is not interested in real peace and that its own proposed ceasefire was intended solely to enable the 9 May parade
He said Russia attacked Ukraine with more than 100 drones and missiles overnight.
"By continuing its attacks overnight, Russia has confirmed that it is not interested in genuine peace and that its own proposal for a ceasefire on May 8 and 9 was, as expected, not intended to initiate negotiations or achieve a lasting peace, but merely to allow it to hold its annual propaganda parade on the Red Square," the foreign minister said.
The foreign minister noted that in a situation where Russia shows no willingness for peace, the international community must continue supporting Ukraine and increasing pressure on Russia to force it to end the war.
"Russia has always sought to portray itself as a strong military power, and the Victory Day parade in Moscow has been central to reinforcing that image. The fact that, for the first time in decades, this year's parade is planned on a smaller scale, without military hardware and under exceptionally tight security, demonstrates how weak Putin's regime is and how great a threat it perceives from Ukraine," Tsahkna said.
"Even in 1941, when German forces were already on the outskirts of Moscow, a grand parade was held in the capital to mark the anniversary of the October Revolution," he added.
He added that in these circumstances, pressure on Russia must be further intensified.
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Editor: Helen Wright
