Ukraine Reacts As Putin Orders Ceasefire
Ukraine Dismisses Putin’s Call For A Cease-Fire Order During Orthodox Christmas As ‘Hypocrisy’.
Municipal workers set up a Christmas tree on a square in Mariupol, in the Russian-controlled Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine, on December 24.
Municipal workers set up a Christmas tree on a square in Mariupol, in the Russian-controlled Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine, on December 24.
Ukraine has described a cease-fire ordered by Russian President Vladimir Putin for the Orthodox Christmas holiday as “hypocrisy” and said there could only be a “temporary truce” if Russia withdraws its forces from territory it has seized in Ukraine.
“Russia must leave the occupied territories — only then will there be a ‘temporary ceasefire,'” Mykhaylo Podolyak, a senior adviser to President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said on Twitter. “Keep hypocrisy to yourself,” he added.
In a more detailed statement, Podolyak said Putin’s proposal was “purely a propaganda gesture.”
He said Russia wanted to secure additional time to reduce the intensity of military clashes, mobilize additional forces, and continue to build fortifications on territory it has occupied.
“A banal trick. There is not the slightest desire to end the war in this,” Podolyak said in the statement, according to Reuters.
“Moreover, let me remind you that only Russia attacks civilian objects with missiles/drones, including places of religious rites, and does this precisely on Christmas holidays,” said Podolyak, who was one of the lead negotiators in early talks between Russia and Ukraine at the start of the war.
Putin earlier on January 5 instructed Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu to introduce a “cease-fire along the entire line of combat of the parties in Ukraine” lasting 36 hours — from noon on January 6 to midnight on January 7.
As reported on the Kremlin website, Putin called on the Ukrainian side to “declare a cease-fire and give Orthodox Christians the opportunity to attend services on Christmas Eve, as well as on Christmas Day.”
U.S. President Joe Biden said Putin is “trying to find some oxygen” by floating the cease-fire, which German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock slammed, saying if Putin really wanted peace he would withdraw his troops.
In Photos: As heavy fighting continues around the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, a volunteer is risking his life to deliver Christmas presents to children living under Russian bombardment.
Christmas In Hell: Volunteer Delivers Presents To Ukrainian Children
Christmas In Hell: Volunteer Delivers Presents To Ukrainian Children
“A so-called ceasefire brings neither freedom nor security to people living in daily fear under Russian occupation,” Baerbock said on Twitter.
Earlier on January 5 Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called on the Kremlin to implement a cease-fire during a phone call between the two leaders, according to Erdogan’s press service.
“Erdogan said that calls for peace and negotiations should be backed up by a unilateral cease-fire and a vision of a fair solution,” the press service said in a statement quoted by Reuters.
Zelenskiy on January 5 in a speech at a security forum said that Russia is looking for an opportunity to achieve a “short truce” in order to restore forces.
In its daily briefing on the war on January 5, the Ukrainian military said more than 800 Russian soldiers had been killed or wounded, mostly in fighting around the Donetsk region city of Bakhmut and other locations in the Donetsk region.
RFE/RL could not independently verify the Ukrainian military’s figures.
Amid the intense fighting, Biden on January 4 confirmed that Washington is considering sending Bradley infantry fighting vehicles to Ukraine. The M2 Bradley has been the main infantry fighting vehicle of the U.S. military, which has thousands of them available, since 1981.
Washington is expected to unveil a new package of assistance to Ukraine in the coming days.
Biden’s comment came after a telephone conversation earlier in the day between Zelenskiy and French President Emmanuel Macron after which it was revealed that France will provide AMX-10 RC light-armored vehicles to Ukraine.
Reuters quoted an unidentified French official as saying “this is the first time Western-made armored vehicles are supplied to support the Ukrainian Army.” No further details were reported.
Earlier, Australia provided 90 Bushmaster vehicles, which are armored against land mines.
Kyiv has been pressing Western governments for heavy armored vehicles, particularly U.S.-made Abrams and German Leopard battle tanks.
“There is no rational reason why Ukraine has not yet been supplied with Western tanks,” Zelenskiy wrote on Twitter.
A senior U.S. official said on January 4 that the fighting around Bakhmut is “still quite hot” and predicted “continued fighting in the coming months.”
(Source: Reuters and AFP)
