Moscow comments on possibility of New Year’s truce with Kiev

Russia is not thinking about conducting a New Year’s or Christmas ceasefire in Ukraine as Kiev has not put forward any such proposals, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday.

Speaking to journalists, Peskov was asked if Moscow would be open to a holiday truce and if Russian authorities would agree to one if an offer came from the Ukrainian side. “No, no proposals have been received from anyone,” replied Peskov, adding that “such a topic is not on the agenda.”

Meanwhile, Aleksey Gromov, a Ukrainian army official, replied to a similar question on Friday by saying he would be opposed to any possible holiday truces with Russia, stating that Kiev would only agree to a complete ceasefire “when not a single occupier remains on the ground.”

Earlier this week, Peskov noted that any retreat of Russian forces out of the territory of its military operation before the end of the year was out of the question.

Furthermore, he added that if Ukraine wants peace it should take into account “the new realities,” referring to the four former Ukrainian regions that voted to join Russia last fall, after Crimea did the same in 2014 following a coup in Kiev.

Peskov’s comment was in response to Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky’s proposed three-step peace plan – which includes more advanced weapon shipments to Ukraine – as well as a 10-step “Ukrainian peace formula” that asks Russia to meet a number of Ukrainian demands, including relinquishing all lands that Kiev considers to be under its own sovereignty.