Russia will not extend a truce with Ukraine over Orthodox Easter unless Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accepts its terms, the Kremlin said in an interview aired Sunday.

“Sustainable peace can come when we secure our interests and achieve the goals we set from the very start. This can be done literally today. But Zelensky must accept these well-known solutions,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, according to Russian news agencies.

 “Until Zelensky musters the courage to assume this responsibility, the special military operation will continue after the truce expires,” Peskov added, referring to the war in Ukraine.

Earlier Sunday, Ukraine and Russia accused each other of violating the truce in place for Orthodox Easter thousands of times, as the war dragged on into its fifth year.

Both sides had agreed to observe the halt to hostilities for the religious holiday, after Putin agreed on Thursday to a proposal made by Zelensky more than a week before.

“As of 7am on 12 April, 2,299 ceasefire violations were recorded. Specifically: 28 enemy assault actions, 479 enemy shellings, 747 strikes by attack drones … and 1,045 strikes by FPV drones,” the Ukrainian military’s general staff said in a post on Facebook.

“There were no missile strikes, guided aerial bomb strikes, or Shahed-type UAV strikes,” it added.

Read moreMoscow, Kyiv report violations of 32-hour Orthodox Easter truce

In turn, Russia’s defence ministry accused Kyiv of nearly 2,000 breaches of its own.

“A total of 1,971 ceasefire violations by units of the Ukrainian armed forces were recorded between 4:00 pm Moscow time on April 12 and 8:00 am on April 12,” the ministry said, as reported by the TASS news agency.

The truce had been due to last for 32 hours, from 4:00 pm (1300 GMT) on Saturday until the end of the day on Sunday, according to the Kremlin.

(FRANCE with AFP)