EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell has described the ceasefire recently announced by Russia in Ukraine as "hypocritical" and "not credible," Belga News Agency reports.
"The Kremlin is not credible and this declaration of a unilateral ceasefire is not credible," Borrell told the press on the sidelines of an official visit to Morocco on Friday.
On Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a 36-hour ceasefire in Ukraine over Orthodox Christmas this weekend. The temporary truce is scheduled to begin at noon on Saturday (Ukrainian time).
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The ceasefire is the first large-scale one announced by Putin since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February last year.
Putin's appeal for a temporary ceasefire was emphatically rejected by Ukrainian presidential advisor Mykhailo Podolyak, who denounced Putin's announcement as "propaganda" and a "cynical trap."
"[Russia] must leave the occupied territories — only then will there be a 'temporary truce'," Podolyak tweeted. "Keep hypocrisy to yourself."
