Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has rejected Russian President Vladimir Putin’s order for a 36-hour ceasefire over Orthodox Christmas on Thursday.
Zelensky described the move by his neighbouring foe as a cover to stop Ukraine’s progress in the eastern Donbas region, Al Jazeera reports on Friday.
Speaking in Russian and addressing both the Kremlin and Russians, Zelensky in his nightly video said Moscow had repeatedly ignored Kyiv’s own peace plan.
He, then, added that the war would end when Russian troops left Ukraine or were thrown out.
He said, “They now want to use Christmas as a cover, albeit briefly, to stop the advances of our boys in Donbas and bring equipment, ammunition and mobilised troops closer to our positions.”
“What will that give them? Only yet another increase in their total losses.”
Putin ordered a one-day ceasefire “along the entire line of contact” in Ukraine to mark Orthodox Christmas, observed on January 7.
Russian authorities called on the Ukrainian side to “declare a ceasefire and enable citizens to attend Christmas services.”
However, Ukraine’s central Orthodox Church has been recognized as independent by the church hierarchy since 2019 and rejects any notion of allegiance to the Moscow patriarch.
Moreover, Ukrainian believers have shifted their calendar to celebrate Christmas on December 25, as in the West.
Zelensky continued during the address: “The whole world knows how the Kremlin uses interruptions in the war to continue the war with new strength.”
“But in order to end the war more quickly, we need something completely different. We need Russian citizens to find the courage in themselves, albeit for 36 hours, albeit during Christmas, to free themselves of the shameful fear of one man in the Kremlin.”
