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Ukraine: Putin orders ceasefire, Western armor for kyiv

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday ordered a ceasefire in Ukraine for the Orthodox Christmas of January 6-7, the first major ceasefire since the invasion began nearly a year ago, criticized by kyiv denouncing “hypocrisy” and the desire to save time. The day after France’s announcement to send light tanks to Ukraine, the United States and Germany promised kyiv, in a joint press release, the delivery of armored infantry, of the Bradley type to the American side and of the Marder model . . Berlin also promised to provide a Patriot air defense battery, as did Washington. Volodymyr Zelensky immediately praised “a very important decision”, thanking the American and German leaders. He also criticized the unilateral ceasefire announced by Vladimir Putin for Orthodox Christmas, which he said was “an apology with the aim at least of stopping the advance of our troops in Donbass and bringing the equipment, ammunition, and bring the men closer to our positions” . “What will be the result? No more death,” he said. During the day, the president of Russia announced this ceasefire, after a call to this effect from the Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill, but also a proposal from the Turkish head of state, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who called Mr. Putin in the morning. “In view of the appeal of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill, I have instructed the Minister of Defense of Russia to introduce a ceasefire regime along the entire line of contact between the parties in Ukraine from 12:00 pm on January 6 of this year until midnight on January 7. ,” said the Russian president, quoted in a statement from the Kremlin. – “Give fresh air” – He also called on the Ukrainian forces to respect this truce in order to give the possibility to the Orthodox, the majority confession in Ukraine and in Russia, to “attend Christmas Eve services , also the day of the Nativity of Christ”. This ceasefire is the first ceasefire of a general nature since the beginning of the war, only local agreements have been concluded so far, such as for the evacuation of civilians from the Azovstal factory in Mariupol (south -east) in April. “Russia must leave the occupied territories, only then there will be a + temporary truce +. Keep your hypocrisy,” reacted on Twitter an adviser to the Ukrainian presidency, Mykhaïlo Podoliak. For the American president, Vladimir Putin seeks to “give himself some air”. “He was ready to bomb hospitals, nurseries and churches (…) on December 25 and on New Year’s Eve,” joked Joe Biden. This ceasefire “will do nothing to advance the prospects for peace”, responded British Foreign Minister James Cleverly, who called for a permanent withdrawal of Russian forces. Such a truce will bring “neither freedom nor security” to Ukraine, abounded the German diplomacy. In his phone conversation with Vladimir Putin, Mr. Erdogan proposed a “unilateral ceasefire” intended to support “appeals for peace and negotiations between Moscow and Kyiv”. Russia is ready for a “serious dialogue” with Ukraine on the condition that the latter complies with Russia’s demands and accepts the “new territorial realities” born of the invasion of this country in February, argued Vladimir Putin. Moscow claimed in September the annexation of four regions occupied at least partially by its army in Ukraine, despite numerous military retreats on the ground, in the pattern of the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea in March 2014. by Volodymyr Zelensky the total withdrawal of Russian forces from his country, including Crimea, before any talks with Moscow. Otherwise, he promised to take back the conquered territories by force. During his discussions with Mr. Erdogan, Mr. Putin accused the West of “feeding the kyiv regime with weapons and military equipment and providing it with operational and targeting information”. – Civilians killed – Russia’s truce was offered less than a week after a Ukrainian strike on New Year’s Eve that left at least 89 people dead in Makiivka, eastern Ukraine. A particularly deadly bombing that the Russian army had to acknowledge, an extremely rare fact, and provoked criticism of Russia against the military order. On the Ukraine front, bombings continued on Thursday with the particular death of a woman and her 12-year-old son in a Russian bombing of Beryslav, near Kherson, in the south, according to the deputy head of administration presidential. Kyrylo Tymoshenko. Two people were also killed and three others wounded in a strike in a village in the Zaporizhia region, also in the south, according to Governor Oleksandre Staroukh. Residents of the eastern town of Chassiv Iar told AFP on Thursday that a Russian missile hit a building before dawn, injuring a man and a woman. bur-rcb-pop/prh/ib