President Volodymyr Zelenskyy believes that Russia, having declared a ceasefire for the Orthodox Christmas holidays, wants to use Christmas as a cover to stop the advance of the Ukrainian army in Donbas and bring equipment, ammunition and mobilized troops closer to Ukrainian positions.
President Zelenskyy said this in his traditional evening video address, the Ukrainian News agency reports.
"Now they want to use Christmas as a cover to stop the advance of our guys in Donbas, even for a while, and bring equipment, ammunition and mobilized closer to our positions. What benefit will this bring? Just another increase in the number of casualties. Everyone in the world knows how the Kremlin uses respite on war in order to continue the war with new strength," he said.
Zelenskyy noted that the Ukrainian peace formula involves the withdrawal of Russian occupation forces from the territory of Ukraine, and this is a guaranteed and reliable way to stop fire, human losses and war in general.
The Ukrainian President also recalled that on December 12, he offered Russia to start withdrawing its troops from the territory of Ukraine on Christmas Day.
"To end the war is to end the aggression of your state... And the war will end when your soldiers either leave or we drive them out," he said.
As the Ukrainian News agency earlier reported, on Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin instructed the Ministry of Defense of Russia to implement a ceasefire along the conflict line of the parties in Ukraine from 12 p.m. on January 6 to 12 a.m. on January 7. Russia also called on the Ukrainian side to declare a ceasefire and give the opportunity to citizens in the war zones who practice Orthodoxy to attend services on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.
Mykhailo Podoliak, an adviser to the head of the Presidential Office, believes that the proposal of the head of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC), Patriarch Kirill of Moscow, to establish a "Christmas truce" is an element of propaganda and a cynical trap.
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