Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday ordered his forces to implement a ceasefire in Ukraine on January 6-7 on the occasion of Orthodox Christmas, after a request to do so from Patriarch Kirill, the Kremlin said.
“In view of the appeal of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill, I instruct the Russian Defense Minister to introduce a ceasefire regime along the entire line of contact between the parties in Ukraine from 12 p.m. on January 6 of this year until midnight on January 7,” Putin said in the Kremlin statement.
The Russian president also called on the Ukrainian forces to respect this truce in order to give the possibility to the Orthodox, the majority faith in Ukraine as in Russia, “to attend services on Christmas Eve, as well as on the day of the Nativity of Christ. “.
This ceasefire, the first major since the start of the Russian offensive in Ukraine in February, comes after a request to this effect from the Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Kirill, a close supporter of Vladimir Putin.
This call from Patriarch Kirill was brushed aside by Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhaïlo Podoliak, who lambasted on Twitter on Thursday, before Mr. Putin’s announcement, a possible truce of “cynical trap” and “element of propaganda” .
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan also urged Mr. Putin in a phone call on Thursday to put in place a “unilateral ceasefire” in Ukraine.
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