RUSSIAN forces will observe a unilateral 72-hour ceasefire in Ukraine next week to mark Victory Day in World War II, President Vladimir Putin said today, as the US presses for a deal to end the three-year-old war.

The Kremlin said that the truce, ordered on “humanitarian grounds,” would run from the start of May 8 until the end of May 10.

Ukraine, which has previously agreed to US President Donald Trump's proposal of a full 30-day ceasefire, dismissed Mr Putin's announcement, with Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha saying: “If Russia truly wants peace, it must cease fire immediately.”

He emphasised that Kiev was ready for a “lasting, reliable and complete ceasefire” for at least 30 full days, without specifying whether Ukraine would be ready to accept the Moscow-proposed truce.

The Kremlin had urged Ukraine to do so.

“Russia believes that the Ukrainian side should follow this example,” it said, while warning that, “in case of violations of the ceasefire by the Ukrainian side, the Russian armed forces will give an adequate and efficient response.”

Mr Putin announced a unilateral 30-hour ceasefire over Easter and Ukraine voiced readiness to respect any genuine truce at the time, but it said that Russian attacks had continued. Moscow, in turn, accused Ukraine of failing to halt its attacks.

Just before today’s ceasefire announcement, Ukraine and Russia targeted each other with long-range strikes.

A Russian drone attack damaged an infrastructure facility in Cherkasy, central Ukraine, early today, disrupting gas supplies to households in the city, Mayor Anatolii Bondarenko said.

The Russian Defence Ministry said its forces had downed 119 Ukrainian drones overnight, most of them over Russia’s Bryansk border region.

Appearing on NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that this week would be “very critical” for Washington’s peace efforts.

The US needs to “make a determination about whether this is an endeavour that we want to continue to be involved in,” he said.

Further US military aid to Ukraine could be at risk if the Trump administration walks away from attempts to end the war.

Also today, Mr Putin thanked North Korea for sending troops to help defeat Ukraine and promised not to forget their sacrifices, hours after Pyongyang confirmed their deployment for the first time.