Putin declares Orthodox Christmas truce

The Kremlin says that the ceasefire in Ukraine will last from Friday at noon until Saturday at midnight.

The Russian military has been ordered by President Vladimir Putin to force a halt to hostilities in Ukraine. The head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, had already asked for an end to fighting in the days before and around the Orthodox Christmas holiday.

According to the Kremlin, the truce will last from noon local time on Friday, January 6, to midnight on Saturday, January 7.

According to a Kremlin statement, “We call upon the Ukrainian side to proclaim a ceasefire and provide them the opportunity to attend services on Christmas Eve and on Christmas Day.” Many people who follow the Orthodox Church reside in the conflict zone.

In a phone chat with his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, earlier on Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed the potential for peace talks with Ukraine. The Russian president reaffirmed that if Kiev acknowledged the “new territorial realities,” Moscow would be “ready for genuine engagement.”

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Erdogan responded, “A unilateral declaration of a ceasefire and a vision of a reasonable settlement should support calls for peace and discussions.”

In the past, Ankara has offered to mediate talks between Russia and Ukraine. Meaningful negotiations for peace between the two parties basically failed in April, with Moscow and Kiev placing the blame on each other. Late in December, Sergey Lavrov, the foreign minister of Russia, claimed that Ukrainian lawmakers were “unable to negotiate” and that “the bulk of them are open Russophobes.”