An adviser to the Ukrainian presidency, Mykhailo Podoliak, on Thursday called the announcement of a Russian ceasefire in Ukraine on the occasion of Orthodox Christmas “hypocrisy” and called on Moscow troops to leave the country.
“Russia must leave the occupied territories, only then will there be a ‘temporary truce’. Maintain your hypocrisy,” he wrote on Twitter.
In a separate message to the press, Mykhaïlo Podoliak denounced the ceasefire ordered moments earlier by Russian President Vladimir Putin as a “pure propaganda gesture.”
“Deliberately Manipulative Initiatives”
“Russia is trying by all means to at least temporarily reduce the intensity of the fighting and the attacks on its logistics centers to buy time,” continued Mykhaïlo Podoliak.
He accused Vladimir Putin of not having “the slightest desire to end the war” and of trying to “convince the Europeans to put pressure on” Kyiv for peace negotiations, which Ukraine has refused for years.
“There is no need to respond to the deliberately manipulative initiatives of the Russian leadership,” he said.
According to Vladimir Putin’s order, the ceasefire should start at 12:00 noon on Friday (9:00 GMT) and end at midnight the following day (21:00 GMT), on the occasion of Orthodox Christmas.
Source: BFM TV
