MOSCOW - Russian President Vladimir Putin instructed the country's Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu to start a 36-hour truce along the entire line of contact between the parties in Ukraine from Jan 6 to 7, the Kremlin said Thursday.

"Taking into account the appeal of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill, I instruct the Russian Defense Minister to introduce a ceasefire regime along the entire line of contact between the parties in Ukraine from 12:00 (0900 GMT) on January 6 to 24:00 (2100 GMT) on January 7," the Kremlin said in a statement.

Putin also called on Kyiv to declare a ceasefire based on the fact that a large number of Orthodox citizens live in the combat areas, according to the statement.