A top aide to President Vladimir Zelensky claimed the Russian proposal was “lies and hypocrisy”.
Kiev is not interested in the cessation of hostilities that Russian President Vladimir Putin announced earlier on Thursday. The rejection was confirmed by top officials in Ukraine.
There can be a “temporary truce” only when Russia leaves “occupied territories,” Mikhail Podoliak, an adviser to Zelensky, wrote on Twitter. “Keep hypocrisy to yourself,” he added.
Podoliak also denounced the Russian Orthodox Church as being a “war propagandist” that called for “the genocide of Ukrainians,” describing its statement about a Christmas truce as “a cynical trap & an element of propaganda.”
“A ceasefire? Lies and hypocrisy. We will bite you in the singing silence of the Ukrainian night,” wrote Alexey Danilov, the head of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine.
The proposed truce “can not and should not be taken seriously,” tweeted Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba.
Most Orthodox churches, including those in Russia and Ukraine, use some version of the Julian calendar for liturgical services, so Christmas Day falls on January 7 by the Gregorian calendar. His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia had called for a 36-hour ceasefire starting at noon on Friday, so that the Orthodox faithful could attend services.
Citing the patriarch’s request, President Vladimir Putin has ordered the Russian military to abide by the truce.
“Judging by the fact that a lot of citizens who practice the Orthodox religion live in the embattled area, we call upon the Ukrainian side to proclaim a cessation of hostilities and give them the opportunity to attend services on Christmas Eve and on Christmas Day,” the Kremlin said in a statement.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres welcomed the Russian announcement. “The possibility that the parties show respect and cease hostilities during this holy period is always welcomed by the secretary general,” said his spokesman, Stephane Dujarric.
And no one is surprised……
Kinda shows the calibre of the Ukrainian govt for all to see. This truce could have shown both sides willing to move toward a resolution of this conflict, but as usual Ukraine has no interest in advancing peace. It’ll be interesting to see what Putin’s response might be…
Putin needs to get the fuck outa their country. It’s not up to Ukraine to agree to a ceasefire.
Eastern Ukraine regions voted to become part of Russia as they are ethnic Russians.
Russia are on the back foot and a cease fire would just give them a chance to restock ammunition etc. Ukraine should keep fighting to retain their country and independence
Totally agree
They lost their independence in 2014, when they allowed the US to decide what happened in their country.
14000 Ukrainians died between then and Russias invasion.
Neo Nazis killing their countrymen.
Zelensky is neither Orthodox nor Christian.
He is a teensy little figurehead always dressed in camoflage gear who takes his orders from elsewhere – the same place as dafty Joe Biden gets his.
Merkel told the world the Ukraine signed the Minsk Agreement simply to give it time to prepare for war.
Putin invaded Donbass to save the lives of the majority Russian Orthodox population who were going to be genocided by Ukrainian forces. He had no choice.
The US and Germany – not the Americans and the Germans per se but those one world order promoters of evil who live in other people’s countries, who long ago nailed their colours to old Schwab’s pirate ship, are fighting a proxy war with Russia. If they ever think they have lost they will go nuclear and take the rest of the west with them.
The main stream media would have us believe Zelensky is an honest Ukrainian patriot fighting against a Russian invasion and occupation of his country, that Putin is a power-mongering raging lunatic who is at the same time very ill, and that doddery old Joe Biden is in full possession of his mental faculties and is in the pink of health.
It’s always been like this. We used to believe. Now we do not.
Where do you get your information from??
we get info here. At Dailytelegraph.co.nz.
A few name if you are too lazy to search.
Alexander mercouris ( youtube and rumble etc)
The duran
scott ritter
and many other good men and women
@ jayem
I totally agree with you !!!
zelenski and allies are thugs who sold the ukrainians and the ukraine to uncle sam for a few millions of dollars.
Furthermore is zelensky *** ? then all is said
Zelensky would likely burst into flames at the lyrics to Silent Night.
Follow Graham Phillips on YouTube. A British journalist that has been covering the atrocities commited against the majority Ethnic Russians in Eastern Ukraine for the last several years.
The Kiev government will keep this gravy train war going as long as they can.