STORY: Russia and Ukraine have declared rival ceasefires.
President Vladimir Putin says Moscow will observe a two-day truce on May 8 and 9, timed to mark the country's World War Two Victory Day.
The announcement comes after he raised the idea during a phone call last week with U.S. President Donald Trump.
But Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy quickly pushed back:
"The Americans have spoken to the Russians about what might happen on 9 May. Ceasefire or no ceasefire. No one has officially contacted us, nor has anything been officially proposed. After all, this is Russia's war against Ukraine, so America and Russia discuss a ceasefire ... What kind of ceasefire do they have? It's important that our side know what they're agreeing to."
Zelenskiy instead proposed his own ceasefire, set to begin earlier, starting at midnight on Tuesday.
Russia's Defense Ministry said its truce was intended to ensure the safety of Victory Day commemorations and warned it expected Ukraine to comply.
It said any attempt to disrupt the celebrations would bring a massive retaliatory missile strike on central Kyiv, and urged civilians and foreign diplomats to leave the city.
Zelenskiy said Ukraine's pause would begin because "human life is more valuable than any celebration," adding Kyiv would act "symmetrically."
He dismissed Russia's proposal, noting that previous short truces -- including one over Orthodox Easter -- collapsed amid mutual accusations of violations.
"A one-day ceasefire, but killing our people beforehand is, to put it mildly, simply not fair. Today Merefa, yesterday Dnipro. Dead, wounded, adults, children. I'm sorry, but after all this, to say, for example, to stop the missile and drone strikes on Ukrainian cities and communities one day before the parade, and say: let's have a 24-hour ceasefire. That is not serious."
Victory Day on May 9 is one of Russia's top national holidays.
This year's parade will feature no military hardware, which the Kremlin says is due to Ukrainian "terrorist" activity.
Zelenskiy said the move revealed Moscow was afraid of drone strikes.
