Ukraine has spurned an offer from Russian President Vladimir Putin for a 36-hour ceasefire over Orthodox Christmas, saying there will be no truce until Russia withdraws its forces from occupied land.
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The Kremlin said Putin had ordered a ceasefire from midday on Friday after a call for a Christmas truce from Patriarch Kirill of Moscow, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church.
"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 the order.
"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.
But Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Thursday Russia was seeking a truce to use as a cover to stop Ukrainian advances in the eastern Donbas region and bring in more men and equipment.
"They now want to use Christmas as a cover, albeit briefly, to stop the advances of our boys in Donbas and bring equipment, ammunitions and mobilised troops closer to our positions," Zelenskiy said in his nightly video address, speaking pointedly in Russian rather than Ukrainian.
"What will that give them? Only yet another increase in their total losses."
Zelenskiy said the war "will end either when your soldiers leave or we throw them out".
Ukraine has previously dismissed the prospect of any Russian call for a ceasefire as an attempt by the Kremlin to secure some respite for its troops, which Ukraine is trying to force from territory Russia seized by force after its invasion last February.
The Russian Orthodox Church, which uses the ancient Julian calendar, celebrates Christmas on January 7 although some Christians in Ukraine also mark the holiday on that date.
Earlier on Thursday, Russia and Ukraine made clear there would be no peace talks between them any time soon, effectively rejecting an offer of mediation by Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan, who spoke separately to both Putin and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
The Kremlin said Putin had told Erdogan Russia was ready for talks - but only under the condition that Ukraine "take into account the new territorial realities," a reference to acknowledging Russia's annexation of Ukrainian territory.
Ukraine's Podolyak called that demand "fully unacceptable".
Ten months after Putin ordered an invasion of his neighbour and seized swathes of Ukrainian land, Russia and Ukraine have both entered the new year with hardened diplomatic positions.
After major battlefield victories in the second half of 2022, Ukraine is increasingly confidant it can drive Russian invaders from more of its land.
The Turkish presidency said Erdogan told Putin on Thursday that a ceasefire was needed to end the conflict, and told Zelenskiy that Turkey was prepared to serve as a mediator for a final peace.
Erdogan has acted as a mediator in the past, notably helping to broker a United Nations-backed deal that unblocked Ukrainian ports to ship grain, and has spoken by phone to both Putin and Zelenskiy on the same day several times, most recently last month.
Australian Associated Press
