The head of the Russian Orthodox Church has called for a 36-hour Christmas cease-fire in Ukraine at the end of this week – but his appeal looks unlikely to bring any breakthrough in halting the war that began nearly 11 months ago with Moscow’s invasion.

Patriarch Kirill has suggested a truce from 12pm on Friday until 12am on Sunday.

The Russian Orthodox Church, which uses the ancient Julian calendar, celebrates Christmas on January 7 — later than the Gregorian calendar — although some Christians in Ukraine also mark the holiday on that date.

Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak dismissed Mr Kirill’s call as “a cynical trap and an element of propaganda”.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky proposed a Russian troop withdrawal earlier, before December 25, but Russia rejected it.

Mr Kirill has previously justified the war as part of Russia’s “metaphysical struggle” to prevent a liberal ideological encroachment from the west.

Moscow officials made no comment on Mr Kirill’s overture.

However, Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke by phone with Turkey’s president on Thursday and the Kremlin said Mr Putin “reaffirmed Russia’s openness to a serious dialogue” with Ukrainian authorities.

But that professed readiness came with the usual preconditions: that “Kyiv authorities fulfil the well-known and repeatedly stated demands and recognise new territorial realities”, the Kremlin said, referring to Moscow’s insistence that Ukraine recognises Crimea as part of Russia and acknowledge other illegal territorial gains.

Previous attempts at peace talks have fallen at that hurdle as Ukraine demands Russia withdraws from occupied areas at the very least.

Elsewhere, the head of Nato said he detected no change in Moscow’s stance on Ukraine, insisting the Kremlin “wants a Europe where they can control a neighbouring country”.

“We have no indications that President Putin has changed his plans, his goals for Ukraine,” Nato secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg said in Oslo.

Ukraine’s western allies have renewed a vow to keep supporting Kyiv for as long as it takes to defeat Russia.

In the latest pledge of military help, the French defense ministry said it plans talks soon with its Ukrainian counterpart on delivering armoured combat vehicles.

France’s presidency says it will be the first time this type of western-made wheeled tank destroyer is sent to Ukraine’s military.

Also, US President Joe Biden said Bradley Fighting Vehicles, a medium-armoured combat vehicle which can serve as a troop carrier, could be sent to Ukraine.

A local resident looks on at his destroyed house after Russian shelling in Kherson, Ukraine, on Thursday January 5 2023
A local resident looks on at his destroyed house after Russian shelling in Kherson, Ukraine, on Thursday January 5 2023 (Libkos/AP)

The fighting in Ukraine has increasingly become a war of attrition in recent weeks as winter sets in.

Kyrylo Tymoshenko, deputy head of the Ukrainian presidential office, said on Thursday at least five civilians have been killed and eight hurt across the country by Russian shelling in the previous 24 hours.

The ongoing intense battle for the eastern city of Bakhmut has left 60% of the city in ruins, Donetsk governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said on Thursday.

Ukrainian defenders were holding the Russians back but the Kremlin’s forces have pummelled the city with months of relentless shelling.

Taking the city in the Donbas region, an expansive industrial area bordering Russia, would not only give Mr Putin a major battlefield gain after months of setbacks, but it would also rupture Ukraine’s supply lines and open the way for Moscow’s forces to press on toward key Ukrainian strongholds in Donetsk.