- Ukraine calls Putin’s order for an Orthodox Christmas peace a ruse
- Russia’s UN envoy says Ukraine has no respect
- Kyiv receives US Bradley and German Marder combat vehicles
Kyiv/BAKHMUT, Ukraine, Jan 6 (Portal) – Ukraine dismissed a unilateral order by Russia for a 36-hour ceasefire from Friday as a ruse, and leaders in the United States and Germany said they would send armored fighting vehicles in push for the Kiev government.
The US arms package, due to be announced Friday, is expected to include about 50 Bradley Fighting Vehicles as part of security support totaling about $2.8 billion, US officials said.
“Right now the war in Ukraine is at a critical juncture,” US President Joe Biden told reporters. “We must do everything to help the Ukrainians resist Russian aggression.”
Germany would deploy Marder Infantry Fighting Vehicles, according to a joint statement by Biden and Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Thursday.
Both countries agreed to train Ukrainian soldiers on how to use them, sources said. Germany would also supply a Patriot air defense battery to Ukraine, which has had some battlefield success since Russian forces invaded last February but has asked allies for heavier weapons.
ceasefire proposal
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy rejected a Russian order for a ceasefire over the Russian Orthodox Christmas, which begins Friday noon and ends Saturday midnight. He said it was a ploy to halt the advance of Ukrainian forces in the eastern Donbass region and deploy more of Moscow’s forces.
“They now want to use Christmas as a cover, albeit briefly, to stop the advance of our guys in the Donbass and bring equipment, ammunition and mobilized troops closer to our positions,” Zelenskyy said in his video address on Thursday evening.
“What will that get you? Just another increase in your overall casualties.”
Biden hinted that Putin’s truce offer was a sign of desperation. “I think he’s trying to find some oxygen,” he told reporters at the White House.
Russia’s ambassador to Washington, Anatoly Antonov, responded on Facebook by saying: “Washington is determined to fight with us ‘to the last Ukrainian.'”
Regarding the decision to send Bradleys, he urged Washington to consider the “possible consequences of such a dangerous course.”
The Russian Orthodox Church celebrates Christmas on January 7th. The main Orthodox Church of Ukraine has been recognized as independent by the church hierarchy since 2019 and rejects any loyalty to the Moscow Patriarch. Many Ukrainian believers have shifted their calendars to celebrate Christmas on December 25, as in the West.
Zelenskyi, speaking pointedly in Russian rather than Ukrainian, said that ending the war means “ending your country’s aggression… And the war will either end when your soldiers leave or we throw them out.”
Dmitry Polyansky, head of Russia’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations, wrote on Twitter that Ukraine’s response was “another reminder of who we fight with in #Ukraine – ruthless nationalist criminals who… have no respect for sacred things.” .
NO PEACE
In a phone call with Zelenskyy on Thursday, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said his government is ready to take on mediation and moderation tasks to secure a lasting peace between Russia and Ukraine.
Putin separately informed Erdogan on Thursday that Russia is open to dialogue on Ukraine, but that Kyiv must accept the loss of territories claimed by Russia, the Kremlin said.
At an event in Lisbon, United Nations chief Antonio Guterres said he believed the warring factions were “far from a moment when serious peace talks are possible”.
The war, described by Putin as a “military special operation” to protect his country’s security, has displaced millions, killed thousands of civilians and left Ukrainian towns and villages in ruins.
In an update Thursday, Ukraine’s Prosecutor General’s Office said at least 452 children were killed and 877 injured in the conflict.
In the capital Kyiv and the eastern city of Kramatorsk, people trying to go about their daily lives during the war rejected Putin’s call for a ceasefire.
“Look, we had Catholic Christmas, the fighting continued,” said Valerii, 30, in Kramatorsk, adding that his town suffered three or four hits on New Year’s Eve alone.
“The fighting never stops, not on holidays, not on weekends. So trust him? No.”
In Kyiv, Nataliia Shkolka, 52, said: “We were bombed like this on New Year’s Eve. I think it’s just hypocrisy on the part of Putin.”
The heaviest fighting of the war continues in eastern Ukraine, with the worst near the eastern city of Bakhmut.
Ukraine says Russia has lost thousands of troops despite gaining little ground in months of futile waves of attacks on Bakhmut.
Near the front, Portal saw explosions from outgoing artillery and smoke filling the sky.
“We’re holding on. The guys are trying to keep the defenses up,” said Viktor, a 39-year-old Ukrainian soldier driving an armored vehicle from Soledar, a salt-mining town on the northeastern outskirts of Bakhmut.
The United States believes that Putin’s ally Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founder of a powerful mercenary group, wants to take control of salt and gypsum from mines near Bakhmut, a White House official said.
Reporting by the Portal bureau; writing by Grant McCool and Stephen Coates; Edited by Cynthia Osterman and Michael Perry
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