Russia has proposed a five-day temporary ceasefire, but Ukraine has rejected it.
“Considering the request of the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, I have instructed the defense minister to impose a ceasefire on the Ukrainian front from noon on the 6th to midnight on the 7th,” Russian President Vladimir Putin said.
This period is the Christmas holiday observed by the Russian Orthodox Church. President Putin has urged Ukraine to agree to a ceasefire and participate in Christmas celebrations.
However, Ukraine has rejected the ceasefire. Ukraine’s presidential aide, Mikhailo Podolyak, dismissed on Twitter that there will be no ceasefire until Russia withdraws its troops from occupied territories.
He also underlined Russia’s “hypocrisy” and stressed that Russia, under the word “dialogue”, seeks to make Ukraine and the world recognize “their right to occupy foreign territories”.
He also stressed that the call for a ceasefire by the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, which supported the Russian invasion of Ukraine, was playing “a cynical trap and a propaganda one”.
Meanwhile, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, acting as mediator, had a phone call with Putin on the 5th and proposed a “unilateral” ceasefire on the war in Ukraine.
VOA news
*This article was taken from Reuters.
