Volodymyr Zelensky has emphatically rejected Putin’s calls for a 36-hour Christmas ceasefire, which would have been effective from midday today (10am GMT).
He accused the Kremlin of using the break to “continue the war with renewed vigour” by repositioning troops closer to vital points on the frontline and replenishing dwindling munitions stockpiles.
Pointedly speaking in Russian, Mr Zelensky added that a ceasefire could only happen when Putin “ended your country’s aggression … when your soldiers leave or we throw them out”.
He said: “Those who continued the terror against our country and sent all those people of yours to the slaughter, rejecting our offers to stop the Russian aggression, certainly do not value life and definitely do not seek peace.
“Now they want to use Christmas as a cover to at least briefly stop the advance of our guys in Donbas and bring equipment, ammunition and mobilised men closer to our positions. What will this bring? Just another increase in the death toll.
“Everyone in the world knows how the Kremlin uses respites at war to continue the war with renewed vigour.
“You don’t give Ukrainians any respite. People are tortured, electrocuted, raped. This continues every day while your soldiers are on our soil.”
You can read the nightly address in full here.
