The ceasefire declared by Russia should begin this Friday at noon in Moscow, or at 10 am in France. On Thursday, Vladimir Putin asked his soldiers deployed in Ukraine to cease hostilities on January 6 and 7, as part of the Orthodox Christmas.
The Russian president also asked the Ukrainian forces to respect this truce, in order to give the possibility for the country’s Orthodox to attend religious celebrations.
Ukrainians reject ceasefire
A decision that, however, is only unilateral. The Kyiv authorities have denied any respect for the ceasefire by Ukraine. President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia’s proposed truce was aimed at preventing his army from advancing into the Donbass region.
“They want to use Christmas as an excuse to try, even temporarily, to stop the advance of our men in the Donbass and prevent us from moving equipment, ammunition and mobilizing troops there,” he said in his daily address.
“What will they gain? Only additional losses.” The Ukrainian president added that the war “will only end when his soldiers leave or when we expel them.”
Putin seeks to “give himself some air”
An analysis shared by the international community that denounced the hypocrisy of Vladimir Putin, like Joe Biden who felt that his Russian counterpart was trying to “give himself some air.” He “was ready to bomb hospitals, nurseries and churches (…) on December 25 and New Year’s Eve,” added the US president.
For his part, Vladimir Putin justified his decision by an appeal by Patriarch Kirill, Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church. “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. he said.
Source: BFM TV
