As the brutal war troubles in Eastern Ukraine, the Ukrainian government reminded Pope Francis that Russia was the only perpetrator of the ongoing dispute, and also extended an invitation to the Pontiff to visit Kyiv.
The Foreign Ministry of Ukraine also thanked the Pope for trying to end the ongoing war, which has ruined the war-torn nation for more than two months.
As per reports, Ukrainian Foreign Ministry’s spokesperson, Oleg Nikolenko, said, “We are grateful for the efforts of Pope to set peace & stop a war that has not been in any way caused by Ukraine, NATO or any other 3rd party. It has become evident to both the Pontiff as well as the world that neither Russia nor President Vladimir Putin is ready to control the bloodshed on Ukrainian soil.
Earlier, the Pope stated that Russia had ignored calls so far by the Vatican to stop the war. Meanwhile, Ukraine has reaffirmed its promise to dialogue & repeated its invitation to the Roman Pontiff to visit Kyiv.
Nikolenko said, “We believe that good will surely beat evil. We call on the Holy Father to continue to pray for Ukrainians & take steps for peace in Ukraine.”
As per the statement released by the Pope, he said that he has offered to visit Moscow to meet President Putin to end the ongoing war , but has not yet received a reply. The Pope added that he made the offer three weeks after Russia’s invasion, via Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s secretary of state.
Notably, Pope has been trying for many years to visit Moscow as part of a long-running attempt to restore relations with the Russian Orthodox Church, which broke from Rome over 1,000 years ago. However, no invitation has ever been raised so far from the Russian side.
Pope further added, “Of course, it would be required for the leader of the Kremlin to make available some window of opportuinity. But we still have not had a reply, & we are still pushing, even if I fear that Putin cannot as well as do not want to have this meeting at this moment.”