Russian President Putin orders 36-hour weekend cease-fire in Ukraine

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday ordered Moscow's armed forces to hold a 36-hour cease-fire in Ukraine this weekend for the Russian Orthodox Christmas holiday, the Kremlin said.

The order follows a proposal by the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, earlier in the day day.

Based on the fact that a large number of citizens professing Orthodoxy live in the combat areas, we call on the Ukrainian side to declare a cease-fire and give them the opportunity to attend services on Christmas Eve, as well as on the Day of the Nativity of Christ, according to Putin's order, addressed to Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and published on the Kremlin's website.

The head of the Russian Orthodox Church called on Thursday for a 36-hour Christmas cease-fire in Ukraine at the end of this week, but his appeal looked unlikely to bring any breakthrough in halting the war that began nearly 11 months ago with Moscow's invasion.

Patriarch Kirill suggested a truce from noon Friday through midnight Saturday, local time.

The Russian Orthodox Church, which uses the ancient Julian calendar, celebrates Christmas on January 7 later than the Gregorian calendar although some Christians in Ukraine also mark the holiday on that date.

Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak dismissed Kirill's call as a cynical trap and an element of propaganda.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had proposed a Russian troop withdrawal earlier, before December 25, but Russia rejected it.

Kirill has previously justified the war as part of Russia's metaphysical struggle to prevent a liberal ideological encroachment from the West.

Moscow officials made no comment on Kirill's overture. However, Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke by phone with Turkey's president on Thursday and the Kremlin said Putin reaffirmed Russia's openness to a serious dialogue with Ukrainian authorities.

But that professed readiness came with the usual preconditions: that Kyiv authorities fulfill the well-known and repeatedly stated demands and recognise new territorial realities, the Kremlin said, referring to Moscow's insistence that Ukraine recognize Crimea as part of Russia and acknowledge other illegal territorial gains.

Previous attempts at peace talks have fallen at that hurdle, as Ukraine demands that Russia withdraws from occupied areas at the very least.

Elsewhere, the head of NATO said he detected no change in Moscow's stance on Ukraine, insisting that the Kremlin wants a Europe where they can control a neighbouring country.

We have no indications that President Putin has changed his plans, his goals for Ukraine, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said in Oslo.

Ukraine's Western allies have renewed a vow to keep supporting Kyiv for as long as it takes to defeat Russia.

In the latest pledge of military help, the French Defence Ministry said it plans talks soon with its Ukrainian counterpart on delivering armoured combat vehicles.

France's presidency says it will be the first time this type of Western-made wheeled tank destroyer is sent to Ukraine's military.

Also, US President Joe Biden said Bradley Fighting Vehicles, a medium armoured combat vehicle that can serve as a troop carrier, could be sent to Ukraine.

The fighting in Ukraine has increasingly become a war of attrition in recent weeks, as winter sets in.

Kyrylo Tymoshenko, deputy head of the Ukrainian presidential office, said Thursday at least five civilians were killed and eight wounded across the country by Russian shelling in the previous 24 hours.

The ongoing intense battle for the eastern city of Bakhmut has left 60 per cent of the city in ruins, Donetsk Gov. Pavlo Kyrylenko said on Thursday.

Ukrainian defenders were holding the Russians back, but the Kremlin's forces have pummeled the city with months of relentless shelling.

Taking the city in the Donbas region, an expansive industrial area bordering Russia, would not only give Putin a major battlefield gain after months of setbacks, but it also would rupture Ukraine's supply lines and open the way for Moscow's forces to press on toward key Ukrainian strongholds in Donetsk.