The Kremlin says Ukraine and its western allies reacted “cynically” to a 36-hour unliteral ceasefire announced by Vladimir Putin last week.

Kyiv rejected Putin’s announcement of a temporary truce to mark Orthodox Christmas, saying that there would be no ceasefire until he ordered his invading forces to withdraw from occupied land, Qazet.az reports.

Moscow had only made the announcement to “use Christmas as cover” and halt Ukrainian advances in the eastern Donbas region and mobilise more men, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said at the time.

President Joe Biden had also criticised Russia’s ceasefire proposal, saying Putin was “trying to find some oxygen” by floating the idea. Germany’s foreign minister, Annalena Baerbock, said if Putin really wanted peace “he would bring his soldiers home”.

Britain’s foreign secretary, James Cleverly, wrote on Twitter: “A 36 hour pause of Russian attacks will do nothing to advance the prospects for peace.”

Speaking to reporters today, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said:

We met with a cynical reaction from Kyiv and a number of Western leaders.