Russia-Ukraine war: Putin offers Orthodox Christmas truce, Ukraine rejects it as 'hypocrisy'
Volodymyr Zelensky and Vladimir Putin
Disclaimer: A number of claims and counterclaims are being made on the Ukraine-Russia conflict on the ground and online. While WION takes utmost care to accurately report this developing news story, we cannot independently verify the authenticity of all statements, photos and videos.
Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a ceasefire in Ukraine on January 6 to 7, the news agency AFP reported citing Kremlin, but Ukraine has called the declaration a "hypocrisy". The report mentioned that the decision comes on the eve of Orthodox Christmas following a request from Russia's spiritual leader Patriarch Kirill.
Notably, Russia's Orthodox Church observes Christmas on January 7. But owing to the ongoingwar, many Ukrainians this year celebrated Christmas on December 25—similar to the West—and Ukraine's main Orthodox Church rejected the authority of the Moscow patriarch.
The Kremlin said in a statement: "Taking into account the appeal of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill, I (Putin) instruct the defence minister of the Russian Federation to introduce from 12:00 (0900 GMT) on January 6, 2023 until 24:00 (2100 GMT) on January 7, 2023 a ceasefire along the entire line of contact between the sides in Ukraine."
In the order, Putin said that "proceeding from the fact that a large number of citizens professing Orthodoxy live in the areas of hostilities, we call on the Ukrainian side to declare a ceasefire and allow them to attend services on Christmas Eve, as well as on Christmas Day."
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While responding to the temporary ceasefire, Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said that Russia "must leave the occupied territories -- only then will it have a 'temporary truce'. On his official Twitter account, Podolyak said to keep "hypocrisy to yourself."
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Earlier in the day, Putin and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke to Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan in separate phone calls. As the world expects the war to end, both leaders made it clear that there would be no peace talks between them any time soon.
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