Russia does not need permission to hold festive events in honor of the 81st anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War, said the president's press secretary Dmitry Peskov, quoted by the Kremlin press service.
This is how Putin's press secretary commented on the decree of Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky, which "permits" the parade in Moscow.
„We do not need anyone's permission. Woe to anyone who tries to mock Victory Day and make such stupid jokes. This is perhaps their greatest misfortune. And we don't need anyone's permission to be proud of our Victory Day," Peskov said.
On Friday, May 8, Zelensky signed a decree "On holding the parade in Moscow." According to the Ukrainian leader's decree, during the parade, the territory of Red Square "should be excluded from the plan for the use of Ukrainian weapons."
Deputy Chairman of the Federation Council Konstantin Kosachev, in an interview with TASS, said that Zelensky's decree was an inappropriate mockery of Victory Day, given the agreements between Russian and American Presidents Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump on a ceasefire and prisoner exchange.
On the evening of Friday, May 8, the US president announced that the ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine would remain in force on May 9, 10 and 11 and that Moscow and Kiev would exchange prisoners according to the formula "1000 for 1000."
Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov confirmed that during contacts between the Russian authorities and the US presidential administration, an agreement had been reached agreement to extend the ceasefire with Ukraine until May 11, as well as to exchange prisoners “1000 for 1000“.
“On the instructions of Russian President Vladimir Putin, I confirm that the Russian side accepts the initiative proposed by US President Donald Trump on a ceasefire for the exchange of prisoners of war between Russia and Ukraine“, he said.
Ushakov specified that an agreement on this issue was reached during contacts between the Russian authorities and the US presidential administration. Representatives of Washington, in turn, were in contact with Kiev.
Putin first announced his readiness to declare a ceasefire in honor of Victory Day during a telephone conversation with Trump on April 29. Later, the Ministry of Defense specified that the ceasefire would be in effect from May 8 to 9. Zelensky announced that Ukraine would begin observing the ceasefire on the night of May 6. Russian President Dmitry Peskov's press secretary said there had been no reaction from Moscow to Zelensky's statement.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that Moscow believed the Ukrainian leader had not ordered a ceasefire.