War in Ukraine, the Pope: “the Holy See is ready to do everything to stop the war”

Lto war in Ukraine has come toeleventh day. The humanitarian truce announced yesterday is over. Russian bombs blocked the humanitarian corridors which would have allowed the evacuation of hundreds of thousands of civilians trapped in southern cities besieged by Muscovites and which should reopen today from 12 to 21 a Mariupolwhere the population – without electricity, without water, without food and without medicine – he is exhausted. For the failure of the truce, Moscow accuses Kiev, as expected. A spokesman for the Russian defense ministry claimed that “the population of these cities is being held hostage by nationalist formations such as human shields”. And that the ceasefire was used by the enemies to “reorganize and compact”. The only certain fact is that Vladimir Putin’s armed forces have resumed the offensive with increasing violence. AND the residents waiting to be evacuated – women, children, the elderly – had to return to shelters.

The Pope today at the Angelus launched an appeal against the war: “In these days two cardinals went to Ukraine, to serve the people, to help: Cardinal Krajewski, almsgiver, to bring aid to the most needy, and Cardinal Czerny, interim prefect of Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development. This presence of two cardinals there is the presence not only of the Pope, but of all the Christian people who want to come closer and say: “war is madness, please stop, look at this cruelty” ».

Yesterday the surprise mission of the Israeli prime minister Naftali Bennett that in Moscow he had a long conversation with President Vladimir Putin. Bennett, who coordinated with the Biden administration, shared the outcome of the face-to-face with Emmanuel Macron and Olaf Scholz, and also heard from Volodymr Zelensky from Moscow. While the Ukrainian president, from his bunker, renewed the requests for help from the West: the activation of a no-fly zone and the stop to the import of Russian oil. Despite the tsar’s latest thrust on Western sanctions, equated to a “declaration of war”Meanwhile, the measures aimed at hitting the Moscow economy are multiplying. The last move is to Visa and Mastercard who announced the blocking of “Russian” transactions. Diplomacy, meanwhile, is stepping up efforts to end hostilities as soon as possible pending the third round of negotiations and tomorrow’s UN Security Council.

To date, in just ten days, more than one and a half million refugees crossed the border of Ukraine to flee to neighboring countries, as explained by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi: “This is the fastest refugee crisis we have seen in Europe since the end of World War II. If the war continues, Europe will not hold up “.

Source: Vanity Fair

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