Russian President Vladimir Putin has agreed to a temporary ceasefire for the Easter weekend. 

Fox News reports that Russia made public its agreement on Saturday.

Ukraine has since disputed the situation, as we will see.

This all comes as President Donald Trump continues to try to get both sides to reach an agreement to end the Russia-Ukraine war. It appears that there has been some progress in this regard, but how much progress, though, remains unclear.

The ceasefire

Russia released a message on Saturday announcing the temporary ceasefire.

In a video, Putin, who was joined by Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov, said:

Guided by humanitarian considerations, today from 18:00 to 00:00 from Sunday to Monday, the Russian side declares an Easter truce. I order that all military actions be stopped for this period.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, however, has since tried to claim that Putin is not being sincere with his ceasefire order.

In a social media message, Zelensky wrote:

As of Easter morning, we can say that the Russian army is trying to create a general impression of a ceasefire, but in some places, it does not abandon individual attempts to advance and inflict losses on Ukraine.

Zelensky has released several other messages along these lines. In one, he said, "In practice, either Putin does not have full control over his army, or the situation proves that in Russia, they have no intention of making a genuine move toward ending the war, and are only interested in favorable PR coverage."

Background

As mentioned earlier, Trump has been trying to broker a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine. He, however, has said, recently, that negotiations have proven to be really "difficult."

In a recent Oval Office press briefing, Trump said:

No specific number of days, but quickly. We want to get it done . . . We’re going to get it stopped, ideally. Now, if for some reason, one of the two parties makes it very difficult, we’re just going to say, "You’re foolish. You’re fools, you’re horrible people, and we’re going to just take a pass." But hopefully we won’t have to do that.

Trump, in other words, seemed to suggest that the United States might be willing to wash its hands of the situation, depending on how negotiations play out.

Trump went on to say, "My whole life has been one big negotiation, and I know when people are playing us, and I know when they’re not, and I have to see an enthusiasm to want to end it."

"And I think I see that enthusiasm–I think I see it from both sides, but you’re going to know soon," he added.