Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a ceasefire on the entire front line in Ukraine from 12:00 on January 6 to midnight on January 7, Russian state media reported with reference to the Kremlin’s statement.

“In view of the appeal of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill, I instruct the Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation to implement a ceasefire regime along the entire contact line in Ukraine from 12:00 on January 6 of this year until 24:00. January 7 of this year,” says the document published by the Kremlin press service.

We will remind you that on Thursday morning Russian Patriarch Kirill asked for a truce before the celebration of Christmas according to the old rite on January 7 according to the Julian calendar.

“I, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, appeal to all parties to the conflict to cease fire and establish a Christmas truce from January 6, 12:00 to January 7 (midnight), so that the Orthodox can attend services on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day” , – said in the address of the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, published on the website of the Moscow Patriarchate.

“Based on the fact that a large number of citizens who practice Orthodoxy live in the areas of hostilities, we ask the Ukrainian side to declare a ceasefire and give them the opportunity to attend services on Christmas Eve and Christmas,” he said. added the Kremlin on Thursday evening.

What Ukraine said about the Christmas truce call

Ukraine initially rejected the appeal by Patriarch Kirill, known for his numerous statements in support of the war launched by Vladimir Putin on February 24, with presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak writing on Twitter that it was a “cynical trap and an element of propaganda”.

He also noted that the Russian Orthodox Church is not an authority for world Orthodoxy and acts only as a “propagandist of war.”

“The Russian Orthodox Church called for the genocide of Ukrainians and encouraged mass murder, insisting on the further militarization of Russia. Therefore, the Russian Orthodox Church’s calls for a “Christmas truce” are a cynical trap and an element of propaganda,” says the presidential adviser.

Kyiv has not yet commented on the ceasefire announced by the Kremlin.

Russia rejected Ukraine’s proposals for a ceasefire

Podolyak’s comments came after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi proposed a three-stage peace plan on December 12 that would see the hostilities end by the Gregorian Christmas, which is becoming increasingly popular among Ukrainians.

“I suggest that Russia take a concrete and significant step towards a diplomatic solution, which Moscow so regularly mentions,” he said.

“Very soon we will have holidays that will be celebrated by billions of people. Christmas – according to the Gregorian calendar or New Year and Christmas – according to the Julian calendar. It’s time for normal people to think about peace, not aggression. I suggest that Russia at least try to prove that it is capable of renouncing aggression,” the President of Ukraine said.

The Kremlin immediately rejected the proposal through its spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, who said Russia ruled out any withdrawal of its troops from the territories it claims it formally annexed last September.

Regarding the annexation of Ukrainian territories, Peskov emphasized that “the Ukrainian side must accept the realities that have developed all this time.”

“These are the realities that have developed as a result of the line, the policy that has been pursued for the past 15, even 20 years by the leadership of Ukraine and the current Ukrainian regime,” he added.

Russia insists that the occupied Ukrainian territories belong to it

Later on December 26, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said that his government wants to hold a peace summit by the end of February, preferably at the UN, with Secretary-General Antonio Guterres as a possible mediator.

Commenting on this new proposal, two days later Dmytro Peskov repeated that “there cannot be a peace plan for Ukraine that does not take into account today’s realities regarding Russian territory, with the inclusion of 4 regions in Russia.”

“Plans that do not take these realities into account cannot be peaceful,” he added.

In mid-June, Britain became the first European country to impose sanctions against Patriarch Kirill over his numerous statements of support for the war of aggression launched by Vladimir Putin on February 24.

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