MOSCOW, April 27. /TASS/. The Russian Orthodox Church is no longer trying to seek a ceasefire, including during the Easter period, as Ukraine is completely deaf to this, Vakhtang Kipshidze, vice-chairman of the Synodal Department for Church’s Relations with Society and Mass Media, said at a press conference.
"The Russian [Orthodox] Church already called for a Christmas truce at the beginning of 2023 when His Holiness the Patriarch (Kirill of Moscow and All Russia - TASS) called for a ceasefire to be observed during Christmas divine services, but this endeavor was not met with any deference from the Ukrainian authorities. Since then, we have not made any such attempts because this would be pointless. Since such peace initiatives make sense only when they are met with reverence by the opposite side," he said.
"As long as there is this lack of reverence and no signs of it cropping up, it seems to me that putting forward such initiatives is at the very least not appropriate," he added.
Since the onset of Kiev’s military operation in Donbass in 2014, ceasefires have been repeatedly declared on major holidays, including religious ones, within the framework of the Minsk negotiation process. Most of them were broken by Ukrainian forces within hours. In early 2023, Kiev did not accept Russia’s proposal for a ceasefire during the Christmas festive period, and the Ukrainian military proceeded with shelling attacks.
This year, Eastern Orthodox Christians celebrate Easter on May 5.