A truce for Christmas. This Thursday, the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, asked his soldiers deployed in Ukraine to cease hostilities on January 6 and 7, within the framework of Orthodox Christmas. This is the first major truce since the start of the conflict on February 24.
• From January 6 at 12 noon to January 7 at 12 noon
This decision taken by the Russian president comes after an appeal by Patriarch Kirill, primate of the Russian Orthodox Church. This former KGB member is one of the pillars of Vladimir Putin’s regime, and has never hidden his support for Moscow’s “special operation” in Ukraine.
“In view of the call of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill, I order the Russian Defense Minister to introduce a ceasefire regime along the entire line of contact between the parties in Ukraine from 12 midnight on January 6. of this year until midnight on January 7. Vladimir Putin said.
Ukrainian forces were also asked to respect this truce, to give the country’s mostly Orthodox the chance to attend religious celebrations.
This is the first general truce since the start of the conflict. Previously, only local agreements were signed, in particular to allow the evacuation of the Azovstal steel plant, located in Mariupol, which came under fierce resistance in the spring before the city fell completely to the Russians.
The truce announced by Vladimir Putin comes less than a week after the deadly Ukrainian attack on the region occupied since 2014 of Makiivka, in the east of the country. Russia had to admit for the first time the deaths of 89 soldiers, a figure largely underestimated according to Kyiv, prompting rare criticism of Vladimir Putin and the military command.
• The role of Turkey
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan called Vladimir Putin on Thursday morning and presented him with a proposal to that effect. He had proposed to his Russian counterpart a unilateral “ceasefire” to support “calls for peace and negotiations between Moscow and Kyiv.”
Since the beginning of the conflict, the Turkish head of state, who also spoke this Thursday with Volodymyr Zelensky, has wanted to influence a resolution of the conflict in Ukraine. In the spring, unsuccessful negotiations were arranged in the coastal city of Antalya.
Before announcing the truce, Vladimir Putin had indicated to Recep Tayyip Erdoğan that Moscow was ready for a “serious dialogue” with Ukraine on condition that the latter complied with Russian demands and accepted the “new territorial realities” born of the invasion. of this country in February.
• Kyiv criticizes Moscow’s “hypocrisy”
On the Ukrainian side, which was asked to respect this truce, the reaction was swift.
“Russia must leave the occupied territories, only then will there be a ‘temporary truce’. Keep your hypocrisy,” Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podoliak reacted on Twitter.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has not yet ruled on the Russian ceasefire request. He insists on a full withdrawal of Russian forces from his country, including Crimea, before any dialogue with Moscow. Otherwise, he promises to take back the occupied territories by force.
Ukrainian citizens were also critical. “It’s not once a year that we should have peace without killing people,” Kharkiv resident Ievgeni Lutsenko told BFMTV on Thursday. “We don’t believe Putin (…). It’s a manipulation, a farce,” added Alina, a Kyiv resident.
• Skeptical international reactions
Western governments have also been skeptical of the announcement of the Russian truce. Joe Biden said Thursday that Vladimir Putin was trying to “give himself some air” by announcing a ceasefire in Ukraine on the occasion of Orthodox Christmas, the first major truce since the start of the Russian invasion.
The Russian president “was ready to bomb hospitals, nurseries and churches (…) on December 25 and the new year (…) I think he is trying to get some air,” he said under pressure.
Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock also expressed her reluctance. “If Putin wanted peace, he would bring his soldiers home and the war would end. But he apparently wants to continue the war, after a short pause,” she tweeted.
Source: BFM TV
