(Reuters) – President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Thursday that Russia was seeking a truce to use as a cover to stop Ukrainian advances in the eastern Donbas region and bring in more men and equipment.
“They now want to use Christmas as a cover, albeit briefly, to stop the advances of our boys in Donbas and bring equipment, ammunitions and mobilised troops closer to our positions,” Zelenskiy said in his nightly video address, speaking pointedly in Russian rather than Ukrainian.
“What will that give them? Only yet another increase in their total losses.”
Zelenskiy said the war “will end either when your soldiers leave or we throw them out”.
(Reporting by Ron Popeski and Elaine Monaghan; Editing by Leslie Adler)
