Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia, has given the country’s defence minister orders to impose a cease-fire in Ukraine over the Orthodox Christmas holiday.
A 36-hour ceasefire will be in effect beginning at noon, on January 6th.
Many people typically observe Orthodox Christmas on January 6 and 7.
According to the Kremlin’s press office, Putin made the declaration in response to the Russian Patriarch Kirill’s earlier request that weaponry be silenced during the Orthodox holiday.
A statement posted on the Kremlin website read: “Due to the fact that a large number of citizens of the Orthodox faith live in several areas of the conflict zone, we call on the Ukrainian side to observe a ceasefire and allow them to visit Christmas Eve and Christmas Day services.”
Patriarch Kirill has always backed the Kremlin’s actions in Ukraine, even urging Russian soldiers that their deaths would “wash away all sins” if they died in the service of their country.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the president of Turkey, called Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier on Thursday and requested that the latter enact a unilateral cease-fire in support of peace talks.
In response, Putin repeated Russian demands that before meaningful peace talks could start, Kyiv must recognise Moscow’s recent annexation of four regions of Ukraine.
According to a statement for the Kremlin, “Putin again confirmed Russia’s openness to serious dialogue on the condition of Kyiv authorities fulfilling the well-known and repeatedly voiced requirements of taking into account the new territorial realities.”
The statement added, “The Russian side emphasised the destructive role of Western states, pumping the Kyiv regime with weapons and military equipment, providing it with operational information and targets.”
The Kremlin asserts that it has annexed the regions of Donetsk, Lugansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson, despite the Russian military being unable to hold complete control over the territories, and the annexation actions have been generally denounced as unlawful.
