MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday ordered a 36-hour cease-fire in his war against Ukraine over the Orthodox Christmas holiday.
He ordered Russian troops to stop attacks for a day and a half on its neighboring country starting at noon on Friday, the Kremlin said. Many Orthodox Christians, including those living in Russia and Ukraine, celebrate Christmas on January 6 and 7.
Patriarch Kirill of Moscow, head of the Russian Orthodox Church and a supporter of Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, called on Thursday for both sides of the war in Ukraine to observe a Christmas truce. But the Kyiv government dismissed it as a cynical trap.
In an order, Putin said, “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.”
Ukraine referred to Putin’s order as “hypocrisy” after earlier scoffing at Kirill’s appeal for a cease-fire.
Mykhailo Podolyak, a senior aide to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, characterized the Russian Orthodox Church as a “war propagandist” that had incited the “mass murder” of Ukrainians and the militarization of Russia.
“The statement of the Russian Orthodox Church about the ‘Christmas Truce’ is a cynical trap and an element of propaganda,” he said.
There was no immediate public response from the United States, which along with its Western allies has supplied billions of dollars of weaponry to help Kyiv’s forces fend off the Russian invasion.
Separately on Thursday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told Putin that negotiations to halt Russia’s invasion of Ukraine should be supported by a unilateral cease-fire.
Erdogan’s office said he and Putin spoke by phone Thursday, and that peace talks should include a “vision for a fair solution.”
The Turkish leader has tried to mediate an end to the conflict, and Turkey helped negotiate agreement with Russia and Ukraine to facilitate grain exports. Erdogan’s was expected to speak with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Thursday.
Another call for peace Thursday came from Patriarch Kirill, head of the Russian Orthodox Church, who appealed for all parties to observe a cease-fire during the Orthodox Christmas holiday this week.
(VOA)
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