US remains committed to a full ceasefire in Ukraine — State Department
The United States remains committed to a full and comprehensive ceasefire in Ukraine, a representative of the US State Department told TASS on Sunday.
"We remain committed to achieving a full and comprehensive ceasefire," the US State Department official said in response to a request to comment on Sunday's publication by Reuters, which suggests that the State Department would support extending the Easter truce declared by Russian President Vladimir Putin. The truce expired on Monday at 00:00 Moscow time (Sunday 09:00 p.m. GMT).
According to the State Department, "it is a long past time" to stop the conflict in Ukraine.
"As Secretary [of State Marco] Rubio told Foreign Minister [of Russia] Sergey Lavrov during their call on Thursday, he had encouraging discussions last week in Paris and peace is possible if all parties are committed," the State Department spokesman stressed.
Earlier on Sunday, US President Donald Trump posted on the social network Truth Social expressing hope that Russia and Ukraine would reach a deal in the coming week.
On April 19, Russian President Vladimir Putin, at a meeting with Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces Valery Gerasimov, announced a halt to all military action until 00:00 Moscow time on April 21 (April 20, 09:00 p.m. GMT) and called on Kiev to do the same. The ceasefire came into effect on April 19 at 06:00 p.m. Moscow time (03:00 p.m. GMT).
As Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told TASS on April 20, the President did not give any orders to extend the Easter ceasefire.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Sunday that the Ukrainian side had not observed the Easter truce, using American HIMARS multiple rocket launchers to carry out strikes.
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