Ukraine and Russia have both confirmed a humanitarian truce in Oleshky, a city in the Kherson region where civilians are facing a severe food crisis, Vatican News reported.
The ceasefire is now due to begin in the early hours of Tuesday, Oct. 27. Gen. Valery Gerasimov, chief of Russia’s General Staff and a deputy defense minister, said Russian troops would observe it so the humanitarian operation could go ahead. The start had first been set for Thursday, Oct. 29.
That earlier date came from the White House, which announced the deal first. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov confirmed it a few hours before Gerasimov spoke, describing a truce that would let aid in and allow civilians to be evacuated.
Dmytro Lubinets, the Ukrainian Parliament’s human rights commissioner, also confirmed the truce. He thanked U.S. first lady Melania Trump for her part in securing it.
Writing on Telegram, Lubinets called the mission complex and said “the operation will take place in stages.” Ukraine “has done and is doing everything possible to save the people in Oleshky,” he wrote.
Pope Leo XIV had appealed for a humanitarian ceasefire in the city just a week earlier. He raised the situation there in a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, made from Rome’s Gemelli Hospital, where he was being treated.
A truce was urgently needed, the pope said, so food and medical aid could reach civilians and people could leave safely and voluntarily.
Leo spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy by phone on Monday. Oleshky came up again, along with the need for a truce.
Talks planned in Abu Dhabi
Zelenskyy said delegations from Ukraine, Russia and the United States will meet in Abu Dhabi in the first half of November.
The talks will take place at the working-group level. They are the latest attempt to get Moscow and Kyiv talking directly, with Washington mediating, and to bring the fighting to an end.
Zelenskyy announced the meeting after talks earlier that day with U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, who had seen Putin in recent days. The Kremlin had already said it was willing to return to negotiations after Nov. 10.
None of this has changed Kyiv’s terms for peace. Zelenskyy repeated that any deal must include strong international security guarantees to protect Ukraine from further Russian aggression. He also said Ukraine needs at least 10 years of funding to sustain its armed forces.
Those guarantees remain central to the negotiations, along with territorial questions and how any ceasefire would be carried out, Vatican News reported.
Also Read: Melania Trump Secures Oleshky Ceasefire Between Russia, Ukraine
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