EKO HOT BLOG reports that Moscow on Wednesday said no “Christmas ceasefire” was on the cards after nearly 10 months of a devastating war in Ukraine.
Russia and Ukraine are not currently engaged in talks to end the fighting, which is raging in the east and south and reached Kyiv again on Wednesday.
Tens of thousands of people have been killed, millions more displaced and cities reduced to rubble since Russia invaded its neighbour on Feb 24.
“There is no calm on the front line,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a regular evening video address, describing Russia s destruction of towns in the east with artillery: “So that only bare ruins and craters” remain.
Zelensky said this week Russia should start withdrawing by Christmas as a step to end the conflict, Europe s biggest since World War II.
Moscow rejected the proposal outright, saying Ukraine must accept the loss of territory to Russia before any progress can be made.
Despite the lack of peace talks, hundreds of detainees have been freed in swaps in recent weeks.
The releases – along with progress on talks to resume Russian exports of an ingredient in fertiliser and the extension of a grains deal – have shown the two sides maintain at least limited contact on several levels.
The latest exchange of dozens of detainees included a US citizen, Kyiv and Washington said on Wednesday.
The head of Ukraine s presidential administration Andriy Yermak identified the American as Suedi Murekezi, who he said had been “helping our people” before ending up in Russian custody. The Washington Post said Murekezi was a US Air Force veteran born in Uganda.
White House national security spokesman John Kirby did not name the freed American, citing privacy concerns.
“We certainly welcome that news,” Kirby told reporters.
Kirby said the scale of the ongoing violence tempered hopes for an imminent end to hostilities.
“Just given what we re seeing in the air and on the ground in Ukraine, it s difficult to conclude that this war will be over by year s end,” Kirby said in response to a question about the prospects for a negotiated peace with Russia President Vladimir Putin.
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