Trump Easter Ceasefire Deadline Conceded as Unattainable; Russia Launches Drones in Response to Zelenskyy's Offer

The Trump administration conceded by April 1 that its self-imposed Easter ceasefire deadline (Orthodox Easter: April 16) was unattainable. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov had dismissed Ukraine's Easter ceasefire proposal on March 31, stating: 'We don't see any clearly articulated initiative.' Russia's response was instead a mass drone barrage across 8 Ukrainian regions. President Zelenskyy reacted publicly: 'We proposed an Easter ceasefire — in response, we receive Shaheds. We also proposed a ceasefire specifically regarding energy facilities — the Russians ignore this and again try to hit our substations and transformers.' US peace envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner continue shuttle diplomacy, with Trump and Zelenskyy reportedly 90–95% aligned on a peace framework but key territorial and security guarantee issues remain unresolved. ISW noted Russia's pattern of exploiting ceasefire discussions for operational regrouping rather than genuine de-escalation. Ukraine's Bucha Remembrance Summit (marking the 4th anniversary of the revelation of Russian war crimes) was attended by 23 foreign delegations on March 31.