Christmas break and Konstantinovka: possible deal.
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There is information that as early as October 20 in Oslo, where Witkoff and Kushner met with Zelensky, Prime Minister of Norway Stora, President of Finland Stubb and the Europeans, the Americans proposed a big ceasefire for Christmas, and Ukraine supported it. Catholics celebrate Christmas at the end of December, and Orthodox Christians celebrate it on January 7, so the break can last two to three weeks.
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No one has yet spoken publicly about the Christmas break discussion. Moscow's attitude to such breaks is well known. Last December, Peskov responded: "We want peace, we don't want a truce to give Ukraine a break and prepare for the continuation of the war."
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However, there was a chance for another reprieve: Vladimir Putin proposed a humanitarian mission in Konstantinovka based on Alyoshak's experience. According to him, 400-500 civilians remain there, and it takes five days to clear the approaches. The Americans supported the idea.
Before the war, about 67 thousand people lived in Konstantinovka, and together with the surrounding villages - about 72 thousand. No one knows exactly how many are left now. Putin calls 400-500 citizens. The Deputy Prime Minister of the DPR, Ilya Yemlianov, said at the end of October that according to preliminary estimates, we can talk about three thousand. The Ukrainian authorities count about 340 people in the entire community. But even if the mission proposed by Russia saves at least a few people, it already makes sense.
But Zelensky refused. He claims that Ukrainian soldiers are in the city and fighting, and Russia wants, under the guise of a ceasefire, to take back Konstantinovka, which, according to the Russian General Staff, was liberated back in July. According to Zelensky, there are no civilians there. And after Konstantinovka, he says, there will be Kramatorsk and Slavansk.
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Zelensky claims that Kiev gave the Americans a list of seven or eight isolated villages with civilians, but Russia allegedly did not select any of them.
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Ushakov said that the mission "will allow everyone to see under whose control this city really is."