Russia’s President Vladimir Putin has offered Ukraine a 36-hour ceasefire in the war to allow people to attend services on Orthodox Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, according to state media.
It comes as France’s president Emmanuel Macron has pledged to send Ukraine light AMX-10 RC armoured combat vehicles to help Kyiv repel Russia’s invasion, in a call with his counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky.
A French official described the gift as the first Western armoured vehicles delivered to Ukraine, however Australia has given Kyiv 90 of its Bushmaster vehicles – and the United States is also mulling whether to send Bradley fighting vehicles.
The West’s collective aid does not match the requirements of heavier tanks that Mr Zelensky wants, and comes as Vladimir Putin sent a frigate off to the Atlantic Ocean armed with hypersonic Zircon hypersonic cruise missiles on Wednesday, raising the stakes of the conflict.
However, Ukraine’s military claimed to have inflicted 800 Russian losses in a single day on Wednesday, mostly during intense fighting in Bakhmut and other hotspots in Donetsk, echoing claims of heavy Russian casualties by Mr Zelensky.
As a result, Ukraine’s main intelligence directorate believes Mr Putin will be forced to announce a second mobilisation before April, a Ukrainian minister claimed.
Meanwhile, President Erdogan of Turkey has held phone calls with both Putin and Zelensky, offering Turkish help in mediating a peace deal between the nations.
