Russia-Ukraine war: Kyiv rejects Putin's call for Orthodox Christmas truce

Ukraine rejected the call by Russian leader Vladimir Putin for a ceasefire in order to mark Orthodox Christmas. Kyiv said there would be no truce until Russia completely withdraws from Ukraine.

Ukrainian presidential aide Mikhailo Podolyak responded to Putin’s order on Thursday of a 36-hour truce to celebrate Orthodox Christmas, which starts on January 6. The truce order by Putin was due to a call by Patriarch Kirill, who is the head of the Russian Orthodox Church in Moscow. Podolyak had already rejected Kirill’s call for a truce earlier, describing such a call as part of propaganda and saying that the Russian Orthodox Church, which has supported Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, is a “war propagandist.”

“ROC is not an authority for global Orthodoxy & acts as a ‘war propagandist.’ ROC called for the genocide of Ukrainians, incited mass murder & insists on even greater militarization of RF. Thus, ROC’s statement about ‘Christmas truce’ is a cynical trap & an element of propaganda,” tweeted Podolyak.

“First, Ukraine doesn’t attack foreign territory & doesn’t kill civilians. As RF does. Ukraine destroys only members of the occupation army on its territory…Second. RF must leave the occupied territories – only then will it have a ‘temporary truce’. Keep hypocrisy to yourself,” said the presidential aide.

Ukraine has previously said that any call by Russia for a ceasefire would be an attempt by Moscow to secure a temporary delay for its troops to attack. Both countries also made clear on Thursday that there would be no peace talks anytime soon, rejecting an offer by Turkish leader Tayyip Erdogan to mediate as Erdogan spoke with both Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

US President Joe Biden also weighed in on Putin’s truce proposal, telling reporters that he was “reluctant” to respond to anything that the Russian leader has said, but noted how Putin was willing to bomb civilian targets in Ukraine on December 25 and on New Year’s.

Biden said that Putin may be trying to find “oxygen” after suffering major losses in recent days and the continued struggle in the war that has been going on for more than 10 months.