Perhaps most symptomatic of the gamesmanship in Berlin the last two days is the so-called ‘Christmas truce’ proposed by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. First, his snide delivery betrayed that it was never meant to be extended as part of the spirit of Christmas. Merz told a press conference yesterday:
“Perhaps the Russian government has some shred of humanity left in it and will leave people alone for a few days.” (Apparently, Merz was contemplating not one day, but the twelve days of Christmas—much more useful for Ukraine.) “This could be the beginning of peace. And perhaps this will be the beginning of constructive, sober negotiations that will lead to lasting peace in Ukraine.” Then he added, contrary to actual evidence: “Because over the past weeks and months, this war has primarily been destroying civilians, kindergartens, and schools—it’s terrorizing the civilian population in Ukraine.” And he concluded with the usual public relations challenge: “Now everything depends; the ball is in Russia’s court.”
But, not to be outdone, Ukraine’s acting president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, added, by simply making up out of thin air, the claim that the U.S. was going with this track for a truce—so, it was up to Russia. Apparently, for the sake of the media effect, it made no difference that his claim had no reality to it.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was, of course, asked about Kiev’s proposal for a Christmas truce, but he didn’t take it seriously enough for the Western press. He explained: “We want peace. We do not want a truce to give Ukraine a break and prepare for the continuation of the war…. Now it’s a question of whether we’re going to, as President Trump says, [have] a deal or not…. If the Ukrainians have... the desire to replace the deal with momentary unviable decisions, then we are unlikely to be ready to participate in this.” According to him, Moscow’s position is consistent, transparent and well known both in the United States and in Ukraine. “We want to stop this war, achieve our goals, ensure our interests and guarantee peace in Europe for the future.”
This is trumpeted today in Western media as Moscow’s rejection of Merz’s kind Christmas truce offer.
