France accuses Russia of using Easter ceasefire as 'charm offensive' to appease Trump

France’s top diplomat on Tuesday said that Russia’s Easter ceasefire with Ukraine was a “charm offensive” aimed at winning favour with US President Donald Trump.

According to a Politico report, citing brodcaster FranceInfo, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said the brief truce — announced by Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday and swiftly denounced by Kyiv for being repeatedly violated — was merely a symbolic gesture meant to create a favourable impression.

“The Easter truce that he announced somewhat unexpectedly was a marketing operation, a charm operation aimed at preventing President Trump from becoming impatient and angry,” Barrot was quoted as saying.

As efforts by President Trump to broker a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine have faltered, his frustration has grown — even admitting he’s “pissed off” at Putin, while also lashing out at Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Meanwhile, Moscow dismissed Ukraine’s offer for a comprehensive ceasefire, responding with a lengthy list of conditions and stalling tactics, all while repeatedly breaching a separate agreement to refrain from targeting Ukraine’s infrastructure for 30 days.

On Monday, Putin said that fighting in Ukraine has resumed following the Easter ceasefire, reiterating that Moscow remains open to peace initiatives and called on Kyiv to show a similar willingness to engage in dialogue.

Both Ukraine and Russia accused each other of thousands of strikes and violating the Kremlin’s unilateral ceasefire during the Easter celebrations.

“We always have a positive attitude towards a truce, which is why we came up with such an initiative, especially since we are talking about the bright Easter days,” Reuters quoted Putin as saying to state TV.

“We have always talked about this, that we have a positive attitude towards any peace initiatives. We hope that representatives of the Kyiv regime will feel the same way,” he added.

With inputs from agencies