For the first time, Pope Francis of the Roman Catholic Church formally urged Russian President Vladimir Putin to halt the “spiral of bloodshed and death” in Ukraine, according to Al-Jazeera.
The leader of the Catholic Church claimed to be tormented by “rivers of blood and tears” in a speech he gave on Sunday at St. Peter’s Square in honor of Ukraine.
“My appeal goes above all to the president of the Russian Federation, begging him to stop this spiral of violence and death, even out of love for his own people,” he said.
War Continues As Peace Talks With Ukraine Hit Dead End – President Putin
Pope Francis also urged Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to be receptive to sincere peace proposals in order to end the continuing violence.
He also bemoaned the acquisition of four Ukrainian districts by Russian forces, warning that this could lead to a nuclear conflict, and he urged Putin to put his own people first.
Remember how Putin declared the annexation of the four partially occupied Ukrainian regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhia, declaring them “our people forever”?
The annexation was denounced as unlawful by Ukraine and its friends in the West, and Kyiv vowed to keep up the battle until all of its land was reclaimed.
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