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Pope Francis on Sunday appealed to Russian President Vladimir Putin, imploring him to «stop this spiral of violence and death» in Ukraine and denounced the «absurd» risk to humanity of catastrophic nuclear war as tensions escalate.
Francis uttered his strongest plea yet on the seventh-month war as he addressed the public in St. Peter’s Square. It was the first time in public that he cited Putin’s leadership.
The pontiff also called on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to «be open» to serious peace proposals. He exhorted the international community to «use all diplomatic instruments» to end this «huge tragedy» and «horror» of war.
