Kyiv: Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered a 36-hour ceasefire in Ukraine this weekend for Russia’s Orthodox Christmas holiday. The order comes following a proposal by Patriarch Kirill, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church. “Based on the fact that a large number of Orthodox civilians live in war zones, we call on the Ukrainian side to announce a ceasefire and give them the opportunity to attend services on Christmas Eve, as well as Putin According to the order, addressed to Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and published on the Kremlin’s website. The head of the Russian Orthodox Church called on Thursday for a 36-hour Christmas truce in Ukraine this weekend, but his The appeal seemed unlikely to succeed in stopping the war that had begun with the invasion of Moscow some 11 months earlier.
Patriarch Kirill suggested a ceasefire from Friday afternoon to Saturday midnight local time. The Russian Orthodox Church, which uses the ancient Julian calendar, celebrates Christmas later than the Gregorian calendar, on January 7, although some Christians in Ukraine also celebrate the holiday on that date.
Mykhailo Podolić, an adviser to the President of Ukraine, called Kirill’s call a cynical trap and an element of propaganda. President Volodymyr Zelensky proposed the withdrawal of Russian forces before 25 December, but Russia rejected this.
Kirill justified the war as part of Russia’s ‘spiritual struggle’ to prevent a liberal ideological encroachment from the West in the East. Moscow officials did not comment on Kirill’s proposal. However, Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke by phone with the Turkish president on Thursday, and the Kremlin said Putin confirmed “Russia’s openness to serious talks” with Ukrainian officials.
But this declared readiness came with the usual preconditions: that “Kyiv authorities meet well-known and oft-stated demands and recognize new regional realities,” the Kremlin said, referring to Moscow’s insistence that Ukraine annex Crimea to Russia. recognizes as part of and accepts the other invalid. Regional advantage.
Previous attempts at peace talks have fallen at that hurdle, as Ukraine demands that Russia withdraw at least from the occupied territories. Elsewhere, the head of NATO said he saw no change in Moscow’s stance on Ukraine, insisting the Kremlin wanted ‘a Europe where they can control a neighboring country.’
“We have no indication that President Putin has changed his plans, his goals for Ukraine,” NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said in Oslo. Ukraine’s Western allies have pledged to continue supporting Kyiv until Russia is defeated. In the latest pledge of military help, the French defense ministry said it plans to hold talks soon with its Ukrainian counterpart on delivering armored fighting vehicles.
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The French president says it will be the first time a Western-built wheeled tank destroyer of this type will be sent to Ukraine’s military. In addition, US President Joe Biden said that the Bradley Fighting Vehicle, a medium armored fighting vehicle that can serve as a troop carrier, could be sent to Ukraine. The fighting in Ukraine has become increasingly war-torn in recent weeks, as winter has set in.
At least five civilians were killed and eight wounded across the country in Russian shelling over the past 24 hours, said deputy head of the Ukrainian presidential office, Kirylo Tymoshenko. Donetsk governor Pavlo Kirilenko said on Thursday that intense fighting for the eastern city of Bakhmut had left 60 percent of the city in ruins.
Ukrainian defenders held back the Russians, but the Kremlin’s forces ravaged the city after months of relentless shelling. Taking the city into the Donbass region, a vast industrial region bordering Russia, would not only give Putin a key battlefield advantage after months of setbacks, but it would also sever Ukraine’s supply lines and provide key supplies for Moscow’s military. Will open the way for pressure on the Ukrainian side. Citadel in Donetsk.