The Kremlin has ruled out a truce in the conflict in Ukraine to coincide with Christmas. “We have not received any proposals,” the Kremlin spokesman said, Dmitry Peskov, responding to questions about a possible Christmas truce, reports Interfax. “The special military operation continues“, he stressed.
The main task of the Russian Armed Forces is to “protect” the populations of the occupied areas, Peskov added, admitting that the situation is “difficult” in the Donetsk region, one of the four that Russia has illegally annexed.
When it comes to Christmas truce, it should be remembered that in the West Christmas is celebrated on December 25th, while in Russia the holiday is January 7th. Both dates will be celebrated in Ukraine.
Peskov also stated that the Patriot anti-missile defense system that the United States should send to Ukraine will be “a legitimate target” of the Russian armed forces, adding that at present the possible delivery of Patriot batteries is ”a media report. And nowadays media reports are unreliable. We will therefore wait for official information.”
ERDOGAN – Turkey is continuing to carry on dialogue with Russia and Ukraine to end the crisis that erupted after the Russian invasion of Ukrainian territory. This was stated by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, explaining that Ankara hopes to guarantee a stable regional peace after the achievement of the ceasefire between Kiev and Moscow. “We have witnessed, with the agreement on grain and the exchange of prisoners, that the road to peace can be paved if diplomacy is given an opportunity,” Erdogan said speaking at a trilateral summit between Turkey, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan.
“We continue our talks with Putin and Zelensky in this direction. We hope to reach first a ceasefire and then a lasting peace in our region,” he added at the end of a meeting with Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev and the leader Turkmen Serdar Berdimuhamedov in Awaza, Western Turkmenistan.
SCHOLZ – Russian President Vladimir ”Putin has not achieved any goals in Ukraine” German Chancellor Olaf Scholz declared to the Bundestag, speaking of wrong calculations by the Kremlin leader regarding the aggression against Ukraine launched last February 24 . Putin believed, Scholz said, that he could conquer Ukrainian territory in a matter of days and succeed in dividing Europe and the West on aid to Kiev. “He believed he could drain Europe’s solidarity by turning off the gas tap,” Scholz said. But he was wrong ” about the courage of the Ukrainians, of Europe, ours, about the character of our democracies, about our ability to resist imperialism and the mania of strong powers ”, he added.
