Pope Francis has urged Vladimir Putin to "stop this spiral of violence and death."
Pope Francis urges Vladimir Putin to stop the war
The Russian president, 69, launched an ongoing military invasion on neighbouring country Ukraine back in February and now the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State has made an appeal to his fellow world leader to cease fire as he addressed a message of "hope" to Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky.
Speaking about the war for the first time in public on Sunday (02.10.22), the Pope said: "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. On the other side, pained by the enormous suffering of the Ukrainian population following the aggression it suffered, I address an equally hopeful appeal to the president of Ukraine to be open to a serious peace proposal."
Pope Francis, 85, went on to add that the war - which has so far claimed the lives of a reported 5,500 citizens - is a cause of "great worry" and claimed that the situation increases the "risk" of worldwide terror after Putin signed documents to annex four occupied Ukrainian territories last week.
He added: "How the war is going in Ukraine has become so grave, devastating, and threatening that it sparks great worry.It, in fact, increases the risk of a nuclear escalation, to the point of fearing uncontrollable and catastrophic consequences on the world level. "In fact, this terrible, inconceivable wound of humanity, instead of shrinking, continues to bleed, even more, threatening to spread. I deplore strongly the grave situation created in the last days, with further actions contrary to the principles of international law. It, in fact, increases the risk of a nuclear escalation, to the point of fearing uncontrollable and catastrophic consequences on the world level."
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