Russian President Vladimir Putin
...President-for-Life of Russia. He gets along well with other presidents for life. He is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law, which occasionally results in somebody dropping dead from poisoning by polonium or other interesting substance. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to him. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile or dead from poisoning by polonium or other interesting substances...on Monday declared a three-day ceasefire in May in the war with Ukraine to mark the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Soviet Union and its allies in World War Two.
The Kremlin said the 72-hour ceasefire would run on May 8, May 9 — when Putin will host international leaders including Chinese President Xi Jinping for celebrations to commemorate victory over Nazi Germany — and May 10.
Responding to Moscow's offer of the three-day ceasefire, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he was ready as long as the ceasefire would be 30 days in length, something Putin had already ruled out in the near term, saying he wants a long-term settlement, not a brief pause.
Zelenskiy said Ukraine, given the continued war with Russia, could not guarantee the safety of any foreign dignitaries who came to Moscow for the traditional May 9 victory parade.
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