Putin orders surprise ceasefire in Ukraine

Bloomberg

Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his forces to cease fighting in Ukraine for 36 hours starting from Friday at noon, Moscow time, but Kyiv quickly dismissed the move as a ploy, unlikely to slow a conflict that’s heading for its second year.
The Kremlin said Putin gave the order for Russian Orthodox Christmas. It follows an appeal by the patriarch of that church, which has close ties to the Kremlin.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy dismissed the Russian ceasefire announcement, describing it as a bid by Moscow to get a “break in the war to step up the war.”
“They want to use Christmas as cover to halt the offensive of our boys in Donbas at least for a while and redeploy their military vehicles, ammunition and mobilised men closer to our positions,” he said in his nightly address. “What will that bring? Just more casualties.”
Kyiv has demanded Moscow remove its troops from Ukraine as a condition for any ceasefire.
“I’m reluctant to respond to anything Putin says,” US President Joe Biden said in response to a question about the offer.
“I found it interesting — he was ready to bomb hospitals and nurseries and churches on the 25th and New Year’s — I mean, I think he’s trying to find some oxygen.”
The move comes as Putin’s forces have for months lost ground to Ukrainian advances and the Kremlin has in recent weeks stepped up missile and drone strikes on the country’s urban centers and civilian power infrastructure. In response, Kyiv’s allies are boosting military aid, pledging to supply armored vehicles and other weapons not previously provided.
For Putin, the offer is “a play at generosity for the public,” Tatiana Stanovaya, founder of R Politik political consultant, wrote on Telegram. She noted that after Ukrainian missile strikes on January 1 killed scores of Russian troops in occupied territory,
Andrey Kortunov, head of the Kremlin-founded Russia International Affairs Council, said the move was an effort to “probe the positions of Ukraine and the West,” putting the ball in Kyiv’s court. But he conceded that “a lasting truce now is impossible.”