Pope Francis called for an end to the war in Ukraine on Sunday following Ukraine’s president called on Russian troops to surrender and promised to treat them “in a civilized manner.”
C. Rubini CTC, Vatican News
The request comes as Russia plans to send 300,000 reservists to the front lines following suffering significant setbacks in the war. As the conflict continues, Russia is rapidly holding referendums on annexation of the occupied territories.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called on the Russian army to flee or surrender. He added that it would be better to surrender peacefully in Ukraine than to be killed by their weapons and be tried as a war criminal following the war.
This comes following Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law punishing those who voluntarily surrender with up to 10 years in prison. About 2,000 anti-war protesters were jailed in Russia on Saturday and earlier in the week. However, President Zelensky has vowed that Ukraine will treat fugitives in line with international conventions and not return anyone to Russia for fear of repercussions.
He also condemned Russia’s holding of referendums in four occupied regions of Ukraine starting Friday on whether to join Russia.
In a video message, he stressed that “the world will react to fake referendums with absolute justice. They will certainly be punished. The criminal displacement that the occupiers are currently trying to carry out in Crimea and other parts of Ukraine is still under their control.”
Mass migration
“These are not only crimes once morest international law and the law of Ukraine.” President Zelenskiy added that these were “also crimes once morest specific people”. For example, he said, “This is a deliberate attempt by Russia to destroy the Crimean Tartar people.”
He was referring to Moscow’s move to mobilize 300,000 Russian reservists to fight in Ukraine. Zelensky warned that his forces had already liberated 9,000 square kilometers, or 3,475 square miles, containing regarding 400 settlements.
While the fighting continues, several international efforts have been made, including by the United Nations and Turkey, to end the war. Although this resulted in the resumption of grain exports, Ukraine and Russia appear to have no desire yet to end Europe’s biggest armed conflict since World War II.
