Truman Capote’s ‘The Muses Are Heard’ is a non-fiction novel about of a Cold-War era trip behind the Iron Curtain of a theater company with an all-black cast performing Gershwin’s ‘Porgy and Bess’.
In this absolute gem, a Soviet attaché quotes the old Latin saying, ‘Inter Arma Silent Musas’: ‘When the Cannons are Silent, the Muses are Heard.’
Today, on Easter Sunday, we can’t say that the cannons in Ukraine have gone completely silent, but there has noticeably been a ‘change in the weather.’
If the truce had utterly failed, we’d be witnessing an orchestrated chorus in the pro-Kiev MSM denouncing it. Instead, we saw what appears to be papers and news sites hedging their bets in case peace really breaks out.
The New York Times wrote: ‘Russia’s move appears aimed at showing Moscow is still open to peace talks’; Daily Mirror: ‘President Vladimir Putin’s truce announcement is a stunning move by the Kremlin’; Washington Post: ‘Russia’s statement comes as Trump’s camp shows waning interest in drawn-out peace efforts’; The Sun: ‘Putin’s words seen as a positive step toward much-needed peace in Eastern Europe’.
CNN has gone as far as writing that the Easter truce ‘could force Trump to adopt a pro-Russian stance’, and create difficulties for Ukraine if it’s seen as violating what Washington sees as a goodwill gesture from Moscow.
Since Putin announced the Easter truce, there have been no air raid sirens in Ukraine.
This is based on data from Ukrainian surveillance apps and official siren sources. pic.twitter.com/DaSVpVwGev
— Sprinter Observer (@SprinterObserve) April 19, 2025
No wonder Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky pivoted from rejecting the truce to embracing it and even wanting to expand on it beyond today.
It also didn’t hurt that yesterday, a prisoner exchange took place, with Russia and Ukraine swapping 246 POWs each.
Zelensky is now saying that Russia is ‘making a pretense of an Easter ceasefire’ – which is as close to saying that the truce has been partially successful as he’s ever going to get.
Reuters reported:
“’In general, 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 said in a post on social media.
Putin, hours before heading to an Orthodox Easter service late on Saturday, announced the surprise one-day ceasefire, ordering his forces to ‘stop all military activity’ along the front line in the three-year-old war.”
“Easter Truce” at the Front!
Generally the truce holds! Have a good Easter folks. pic.twitter.com/IPIlNdprWV
— Lord Bebo (@MyLordBebo) April 20, 2025
A complete ceasefire was never probable, but the Russian gesture – and Ukrainian reaction – does indeed add new hope to the negotiations after the U.S. announcement that it could abandon peace talks ‘within days’ unless Moscow and Kiev got serious about negotiating.
“[Zelensky] reiterated that Kyiv was willing to extend the ceasefire for 30 days but said that if Russia kept fighting on Sunday, so would Ukraine.
‘Ukraine will continue to act in a mirror manner’, he said.”
Ukrainian troops get SUDDEN order to ‘hold fire’ — BBC
‘MINUTES’ after Putin announces Easter truce
Kiev asks army to document ‘violations’ https://t.co/OtIbxAH1us pic.twitter.com/IpUSK3ZJ55
— RT (@RT_com) April 19, 2025
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The post Zelensky Embraces Putin’s Truce, Suggests To Extend It Beyond Easter – Both Sides Denounce Ceasefire Violations, but Fighting Is Indeed Paused in Most of the Frontline appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.