You have commented 358 times on Rantburg.

Your Name
Your e-mail (optional)
Website (optional)
My Original Nic        Pic-a-Nic        Sorry. Comments have been closed on this article.
Bold Italic Underline Strike Bullet Blockquote Small Big Link Squish Foto Photo
Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
Ukraine's Zelenskyy says Putin's 36-hour truce is a tactical ploy
2023-01-06
[Aljazeera] Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has rejected out of hand a Russian order for a truce over the Orthodox Christmas period, saying the proposed ceasefire is a trick to halt the Ukraine army’s progress in the eastern Donbas region and allow Moscow to bring in more troops.

Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a 36-hour ceasefire — which will run from midday Friday (09:00 GMT) until the end of Saturday (21:00 GMT) — after a call for a Christmas truce by the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow, the Kremlin said on 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..." the Kremlin said in a statement citing Putin.

The order did not specify whether the ceasefire would apply to both offensive and defensive operations by Russia, and it was not clear whether Russia would hit back if Ukraine kept fighting.

Speaking pointedly in Russian and addressing the Kremlin and Russians as a whole on Thursday night, Zelenskyy said Moscow had repeatedly ignored Kyiv’s peace plan.

"They now want to use Christmas as a cover, albeit briefly, to stop the advances of our boys in Donbas and bring equipment, ammunition and mobilised troops closer to our positions," Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address.

"What will that give them? Only yet another increase in their total losses."

"The whole world knows how the Kremlin uses interruptions in the war to continue the war with new strength," Zelenskyy said.

The war would end, he said, when Russian troops left Ukraine or were thrown out.
Posted by:Besoeker

#9  The wags are snarking that would be enough time for Elenskyyy to put his name on Speaker of the House ballot.
Posted by: swksvolFF   2023-01-06 15:46  

#8  I thought it was spelled "hudna".
Posted by: AlanC   2023-01-06 14:37  

#7  Yeah, like I believe one g.d. thing out of the mouths of the Ukrainians.

Yeah, they're almost as bad as CBS.
Posted by: Abu Uluque   2023-01-06 13:14  

#6  I believe P2k hit it.
Posted by: Chris   2023-01-06 09:47  

#5  Bad optics not to go with the truce. World opinion and all that.

If I was playing Zelensky, I would promote the ceasefire because peace is good AND strike a high value target like the Energodar nuke plant while claiming the Russians did it to themselves to make the Ukrainians look bad.
Everyone would know the Russians did it because that is just how they are. Expect an anonymous source leak in the Daily Mail confirming the Rus false flag op.
Posted by: SteveS   2023-01-06 09:21  

#4  Yeah, like I believe one g.d. thing out of the mouths of the Ukrainians.
Posted by: DooDahMan   2023-01-06 08:20  

#3  Can you say 'Tet' boys and girls?
Posted by: Procopius2k   2023-01-06 07:37  

#2  If anybody shoots anything, Putin will claim that the 'nazis' started it and how godless they are, therefore requiring general mobilization (and inevitable martial law) to counter.

More for domestic consumption, I believe.
Posted by: Mullah Richard   2023-01-06 07:14  

#1  
I guess Putin is desperately in need of some positive PR and likely some time to move things and troops around unharmed during Orthodox Christmas day, that occurs on January 7 (using old Julian calendar).

But I also noticed The order did not specify whether the ceasefire would apply to both offensive and defensive operations by Russia...""
Posted by: NN2N1   2023-01-06 04:16  

00:00