MOSCOW, October 2 – Novosti. Pope Francis appealed to the presidents of Russia and Ukraine, Vladimir Putin and Vladimir Zelensky, with an appeal to put an end to the confrontation.
“Pope Francis expresses deep concern about the military escalation of the conflict in Ukraine and the nuclear threat. He calls on Putin to immediately stop the confrontation, and Zelensky to be open to serious peace proposals,” the Vatican News publication says.
In addition, the pope called on the parties to respect the territorial integrity of each country and the rights of minorities, the newspaper reports.
Francis spoke more than once about the causes of the Ukrainian crisis and called NATO ‘s actions near the borders of Russia the impetus for the start of a special military operation in Ukraine.
On February 24, Russia launched a special operation to denazify and demilitarize Ukraine. As Vladimir Putin emphasized, its goal is “to protect people who have been subjected to bullying and genocide by the Kyiv regime for eight years.” According to the Ministry of Defense, the Russian military strikes only on military infrastructure and Ukrainian troops, nothing threatens the civilian population. The main goal of the operation in the department was called the liberation of Donbass .
