UN chief welcomes Putin's 36-hour ceasefire; Ukraine labels truce call 'hypocrisy'

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Thursday said that he is ready to welcome any truce in Ukraine, referring to Russia's proposal for a ceasefire during Orthodox Christmas. Guterres, although, noted at a briefing that the temporary cessation of hostilities would not "replace a just peace in line with the UN Charter and international law," his spokesman said at the regular briefing.

Earlier in the day, the UN chief disbanded a fact-finding mission into the Russian attack on the front-line Ukrainian town of Olenivka conducted in July that killed prisoners held by Moscow-backed separatists. Guterres argued that the UN mission cannot deploy to the site, according to his spokesman. 

Ukraine, unlike UN, rejects 36-hour Christmas ceasefire

Vladimir Putin announced a 36-hour ceasefire Thursday. “Taking into account the appeal of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill, I instruct the Minister of Defence of the Russian Federation to introduce a ceasefire regime along the entire line of contact of the parties in Ukraine from 12:00 on January 6, 2023, to 24:00 on January 7, 2023,” Putin said in a video address. 

“Proceeding from the fact that a large number of citizens professing Orthodoxy live in the areas of hostilities, we call on the Ukrainian side to declare a ceasefire and allow them to attend services on Christmas Eve, as well as on Christmas Day,” Putin said. 

Ukraine, however, rejected the ceasefire appeal from the head of the Russian Orthodox Church labeling it a “cynical trap". A political adviser to Ukraine’s president, Mykhailo Podolyak, rejected the ceasefire call by Putin for Christmas, slamming Russia's alleged “hypocrisy," and adding that Russians are waiting for Ukraine to also declare a truce. 

“First. Ukraine doesn’t attack foreign territory & doesn’t kill civilians. As RF [The Russian Federation] does,” Podolyak tweeted. “Ukraine destroys only members of the occupation army on its territory… Second. RF must leave the occupied territories – only then will it have a ‘temporary truce’. Keep hypocrisy to yourself,” he added.

There has been no official statement from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy yet, but Kremlin noted it hopes his stance "does not match" his political advisor's. Ukrainians associate Orthodoxy with Russia and aggression, the Kremlin went on to say.