A Christmas Pause? Nyet. Kremlin Rejects Ukraine’s Christmas Truce Proposal

Russia has said it is not interested in a temporary ceasefire with Ukraine, including a proposed Christmas truce, arguing that such a pause would give Kyiv time to regroup and prepare for further fighting.

The statement was made by Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov during the meeting with press, as reported by RIA Novosti on December 16.

According to Peskov, Moscow insists on pursuing what it describes as peace on its own terms rather than agreeing to a ceasefire.

“We want peace; we do not want a ceasefire that would give Ukraine a respite and allow it to prepare for continuing the war. We want to stop this war, achieve our goals, secure our interests, and guarantee peace in Europe for the future. That is what we want,” Peskov claimed to the journalists.

He also said that discussions about a ceasefire, from the Kremlin’s perspective, come down to whether the parties are ready to “enter into a deal.” Peskov stressed that Russia is not prepared to replace negotiations on a broader peace settlement with short-term measures.

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War in Ukraine

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“If there is a desire on the Ukrainian side, and it begins to dominate, to substitute reaching a deal with momentary, non-viable decisions, we are unlikely to be ready to take part in that,” Peskov said.

Earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that he had not yet received an official response from the United States regarding Ukraine's latest peace plan proposals. He mentioned he was preparing to begin discussions with US officials later.

Zelenskyy noted that while he had “heard a few messages,” his negotiating team had received “all the signals,” and he would be ready for dialogue.

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