On Thursday and Friday, 5 and 6 January, both High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell and President of the European Council Charles Michel called the Russian proposal for there to be a ceasefire in Ukraine during Orthodox Christmas (the night of 6 January to 7 January) hypocritical. Ukraine has rejected such a ceasefire.
“Announcement of unilateral ceasefire is as bogus and hypocritical as the illegal and grotesque annexations and accompanying referenda”, explained Mr Michel on Twitter. “There’s an aggressor: the Kremlin. And a victim: the Ukrainian people,” he reiterated. “Withdrawal of Russian troops is [the] only serious option to restore peace and security”, he added.
Speaking to the Moroccan press, Mr Borrell stated, “When the aggressor talks of a ceasefire, [...] the response that comes to us all is scepticism in the face of such hypocrisy”. The High Representative explained, “The Kremlin totally lacks credibility, and this declaration of a unilateral ceasefire is not credible”.
In his view, in the absence of Russia taking concrete actions—a complete halt of military attacks and the withdrawal of troops and military equipment from Ukrainian territory—“a unilateral ceasefire seems to be an attempt by Russia to buy time to regroup its troops and try to repair its damaged international reputation”.
According to AFP journalists on the ground, artillery fire continued on both sides of the front in Bakhmut on Friday despite the ceasefire announcement. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)