Russian President Vladimir Putin has declared a temporary halt to hostilities in Ukraine.
The truce will begin at noon local time on Friday, Jan 6, and last until midnight on Saturday, Jan 7, the day Orthodox Christians celebrate Christmas, according to RT News.
The move follows a call from the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, for both sides of the conflict to cease fighting during the Orthodox Christmas holiday.
The Kremlin stated that the truce would allow Orthodox believers in the affected region to attend services on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.
In a phone conversation with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan earlier on Thursday, Putin mentioned the possibility of peace talks with Ukraine, emphasizing Moscow’s willingness to engage in “serious dialogue” with Kiev if it recognizes “new territorial realities.”
Erdogan responded by saying that “calls for peace and negotiations should be supported by a unilateral declaration of ceasefire and a vision of a just solution” to the conflict.
Ukraine is refusing to negotiate with Russia regarding its Christmas truce, according to a statement made by the Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council, Oleksiy Danilov.
“What does a bunch of little Kremlin devils have to do with the Christian holiday of Christmas?” Danilov asked in a tweet translated by Google. “Who will believe an abomination that kills children, fires at maternity homes, tortures prisoners? A ceasefire? Lies and hypocrisy. We will bite you in the singing silence of the Ukrainian night.”
