Pope Francis issued a new call for peace in Ukraine on Sunday, saying the world needs a peace “that is not based on a balance of arms and mutual fear.”
“We continue to pray for peace in Ukraine and in all parts of the world,” said the head of the Catholic Church after the traditional Angelus prayer in the Vatican, and asked “the heads of nations and international organizations to react to the trend to accentuate conflict and opposition”.
Francis said “the world needs peace” but “not a peace based on a balance of arms and reciprocal fear” because “this goes back 70 years in history.”
The pontiff stressed that the Ukraine crisis should not have happened, but urged that it become “a challenge between wise statesmen capable of building, through dialogue, a better world for new generations.”
The Pope assured that a better world is always possible, but for this “we must leave behind the strategies of political, economic and military powers and focus on a global peace project”.
“No to a world divided between powers in conflict, yes to a world united between peoples and civilizations that respect each other”, was Francis’ appeal, which comes three days after the closure of the summit of leaders of the Treaty Organization of the North Atlantic. (NATO), which took place in Madrid (Spain).
Russia launched a military offensive in Ukraine on February 24 that has killed more than 4,000 civilians, according to the UN, which warns the true toll is likely to be much higher.
The military offensive has caused the flight of more than eight million people, of whom more than 6.6 million have left the country, according to the latest UN figures.
The Russian invasion was condemned by the international community at large, which responded by sending weapons to Ukraine and tightening economic and political sanctions on Moscow.
Source: Observadora
