Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has approached Russia with a proposal. If the Kremlin wanted to withdraw its units in Ukraine after Christmas, the attacked state would also cease fighting. In Moscow, however, no one wants to hear about it: no ceasefire is planned in view of the upcoming holidays, it was said on Wednesday.
The Kremlin said on Wednesday there will be no lull in the fighting either on Christmas or New Year’s Day. Ukraine has not asked for a ceasefire either. “No one has made a proposal in this regard, the issue is not on the agenda,” Dmitry Peskov, spokesman for the Russian presidential office, told journalists.
Putin cancels year-end press conference
In Russia, according to the Orthodox calendar, Christmas is celebrated on January 7. The holiday period usually runs from New Year’s Day to after January 7. Peskov also declined to give a date for President Vladimir Putin’s annual address to the Russian parliament. The speech would not have taken place in 2022. No reasons were given for this.
Moscow had previously announced that Putin would not hold his traditional year-end press conference. Kremlin spokesman Peskov pointed out that Putin also addresses the press on other occasions, most notably during his trips abroad. Russia has ruled out a withdrawal of troops from Ukraine and wants to continue fighting.
On Wednesday, senior leader of the Donetsk separatists, Denis Pushilin, said in an interview with the Ria-Novosti news agency that Moscow should annex the two Ukrainian regions around the cities of Odessa and Chernihiv. Peskov moderated the call and said the priority was to protect “the people of the Luhansk and Donetsk regions” in eastern Ukraine.
More than 60 Ukrainians are released in prisoner exchange
Meanwhile, 64 Ukrainian soldiers have been released in another prisoner exchange with Russia. “We also succeeded in freeing an American citizen who helped our people,” Andriy Yermak, head of the presidential office in Kiev, wrote on the Telegram news service on Wednesday. According to the prisoner coordination staff, the American was arrested in the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson for “participation in pro-Ukrainian meetings”.
The soldiers fought in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Among them are officers and simple soldiers. In addition, four bodies were returned, it was said. According to information from Kiev, more than 1,400 Ukrainian prisoners of war have already been exchanged.
Source: Krone
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