Putin's call for Orthodox Christmas truce in Ukraine rejected

The United States and Germany announced a joint agreement to supply Ukraine with armoured combat vehicles. This is a major boost for President Volodymyr Zelenskiy of Ukraine, who has been urging Western allies to arm his forces with heavy weapons and armour for many months.

A $2.8 billion US package would include fifty Bradley Fighting Vehicles. Germany announced it would send Marder Infantry Fighting vehicles, following an announcement made Wednesday by France that it was sending AMX-10 RC armored combat vehicles.

According to the Kremlin, Putin ordered Russian troops to stop firing on Friday at midday, as a response to a request for a Christmas truce by Patriarch Kirill, the head the Russian Orthodox Church and a close Putin ally.

Putin stated in his order: "Proceeding out the fact that large numbers of citizens profess Orthodoxy live within the areas of hostilities,"

The Russian Orthodox Church observes Christmas on 7 January. The Moscow patriarch has been rejected by Ukraine's Orthodox Church, so many Ukrainian believers have moved Christmas to 25 December, the same day as the West.

A true truce in Ukraine would be first since May, when both sides stopped fighting in Mariupol's devastated port to allow Ukrainian forces to surrender.

Zelenskiy claimed that Russia wanted to use a truce to cover Ukrainian advances in the strategic area and eastern frontline, known as the Donbas.

Zelenskiy stated in his nightly video address that they wanted to cover the advance of our boys in Donbas with Christmas, but only briefly. He spoke in Russian, rather than Ukrainian, and said this in his pointedly translated speech.

Washington was greeted by the State Department and Pentagon with skeptical reactions by US President Joe Biden. Biden stated that he believed Putin was "trying for some oxygen".

While Ukraine has had some victories on the battlefield in recent months, Russia has continued to launch missile and drone attacks against Ukraine's energy plants. This has caused power outages for millions of people during winter. According to Kyiv, Russia denies targeting civilians since its 24 February invasion. However, the strikes also included New Year's Day and Christmas Day attacks on civilian infrastructure.

Ned Price, spokesperson for the US State Department said: "There's one word that best describes that and that's 'cynical'", during a press conference about Putin's ceasefire.

Price said: "Our concern is that the Russians will seek to use any temporary suspension in fighting to rest and refit, regroup, then re-attack."

Russia appeared to be challenging Putin's ceasefire. Denis Pushilin (Russian-installed leader in Ukraine’s Donetsk region, the scene of the most fighting), wrote on Telegram: "There can't be any talk of any truce!"

He said that Putin's order meant only to stop offensive operations.

The Kremlin claimed that Putin told Turkey's President Tayyip Erdan that Moscow was open to peace talks, but that Ukraine must "take into consideration the new territorial realities". This refers to Kyiv's acknowledgement of Moscow's annexation. Mikhailo podolyak, the Ukrainian presidential advisor, called this demand "fully unacceptable".

MEAT GRINDER

Ten months after Putin declared a "special military operations" to safeguard Russian security, Moscow & Kyiv entered the new year in hardened diplomatic positions.

Despite mounting losses, Putin has not shown any willingness to talk about renouncing his territorial conquests.

Although there is still some heavy fighting, the front line remains static since mid-November's Russian retreat. Bakhmut, the eastern city, has been the scene of some of the most brutal battles. Both sides have compared it to a meat grinder.

Ukraine claims Russia has lost thousands of troops, despite seizing little ground during months of futile attacks on Bakhmut. Russia claims the city is crucial to its goal to capture Donetsk Province, one of the four regions it claims it annexed.

Reuters witnessed smoke and explosions near the front.

"We are holding on. "The guys are trying to keep up the defence," Viktor, a Ukrainian soldier aged 39, said. He was driving an armoured vehicle from Soledar (a salt-mining community on Bakhmut’s northeastern fringes).

Bakhmut has been evacuated for the majority of civilians. The few who remained survived under almost constant bombardment with no heat or electricity. Some parts of the city have been turned into a deserted wasteland by sections of abandoned residential blocks that were piled up in concrete piles.

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