Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday accused Russia of “using Christmas as a disguise” to prevent the advance of Ukrainian troops into Donbass and bring equipment and ammunition closer to their positions.
Zelensky was responding to the announcement by Russian President Vladimir Putin, who this Thursday announced a 36-hour ceasefire between noon on January 6 and midnight on January 7.
“Now they want to use Christmas as a cover to stop, at least temporarily, the advance of our fighters in Donbass and bring equipment, ammunition and mobilized men closer to our positions.”emphasized the Ukrainian head of state in his usual daily evening speech on social networks.
The ruler insisted “everyone knows how the Kremlin uses war breaks to continue the war with renewed vigor”warning that this is not the way “to end the war faster”.
“What is needed is for the citizens of Russia to find the courage to break free from their shameful fear of a man in the Kremlin, at least for 36 hours, at least by Christmas.”creased.
After the announcement of a ceasefire by Russia, an adviser to the Ukrainian president already qualified the measure as “hypocrisy”.
US President Joe Biden said on Thursday that his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, is trying to “catch his breath” with the announcement of a ceasefire in Ukraine, while Germany’s head of diplomacy, Annalena Baerbock, has rejected Moscow’s measure. rejected, saying it “neither freedom nor security for people who live in daily fear under the Russian occupation”.
British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly believed that the ceasefire “will do nothing to further prospects for peace”.
From a diplomatic point of view, Zelensky thanked Joe Biden and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Thursday for supporting Ukraine’s defense, with “more weapons” for the military and “more protection for all Ukrainians, on the ground, in the air and at sea.”
“We will have another Patriot battery and powerful armored vehicles – this is really a great victory for our country”creased.
The military offensive launched by Russia in Ukraine on February 24 has already led to the flight of more than 14 million people – 6.5 million internally displaced people and more than 7.9 million to European countries – according to the latest UN data .
Currently, 17.7 million Ukrainians need humanitarian aid and 9.3 million need food aid and shelter.
The Russian invasion was condemned by the international community at large, which responded by sending weapons to Ukraine and imposing political and economic sanctions on Russia.
The UN presented 6,919 civilian deaths and 11,075 wounded as confirmed since the start of the war, emphasizing that these numbers are far below the real ones.
Source: DN
