"We have seen President Putin's announcement of a temporary ceasefire due to Easter. We remain committed to achieving a full and comprehensive ceasefire," a State Department spokesperson stated in an emailed statement on Sunday.
"As we assess their seriousness in this instance, we would welcome it extending beyond Sunday," the spokesperson added.
U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly warned about the risk of escalation in the three-year-old conflict that began with Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. He has expressed a desire to end the war. However, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated on Friday that Washington would withdraw from efforts to broker a peace deal unless there are clear signs of progress soon.
Following a memorandum of understanding reached between the U.S. and Ukraine on Thursday, Trump indicated that he expected to sign a minerals deal with Kyiv within a week. An earlier attempt to solidify an agreement in February fell apart after a clash between President Zelenskiy and Trump in the Oval Office.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy accused Russia of pretending to observe the Easter ceasefire while continuing hundreds of artillery attacks on Saturday night, with further assaults on Sunday. Russia's Defence Ministry, in turn, claimed that Ukraine had violated the ceasefire, resulting in damage to infrastructure and civilian casualties.
Putin has demanded that Ukraine abandon its NATO aspirations, permanently cede four regions to Russia, and limit the size of its army. Kyiv maintains that these demands amount to an insistence on capitulation.
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