Pakistan, April 29 -- This week, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a temporary ceasefire along the frontlines in Ukraine, coinciding with Victory Day commemorations, on the heels of a similar order to stop combat over Easter. While the gesture, as before, is bound to be met with deep scepticism by Kyiv and its allies, the announcement itself is telling. Even amid the bloodiest European conflict since the Second World War, the language of truce-however fleeting or strategic-finally finds its place.

Since February 2022, the Russia-Ukraine conflict has claimed over 500,000 lives - including both military personnel and civilians - and displaced nearly 10 million people across Europe, according to UNHCR estimates. Economically speaki...