Sept. 6 (UPI) — Pope Leo XIV on Sunday called for peace between Russia and Ukraine, saying his “heart goes out to the suffering of the people” as the Kremlin has intensified the pace of its attacks against Kyiv this month.
Leo, in remarks to pilgrims in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican following the recitation of the weekly Angelus, said it “with a sorrowful heart” that he has “followed news of the latest violent attacks that have recently struck several cities and civilian infrastructures in Ukraine, causing the deaths of innocent people.
“My heart goes out to the suffering people, who for years have lived in anguish and fear.”
Russia has intensified attacks on Ukrainian cities and civilian infrastructure as winter approaches, causing dozens of deaths and scores of injuries to civilians amid near-continuous waves of jet-powered drone assaults on Kyiv and its suburbs.
More than a dozen people were hurt when Russia struck an apartment building and a Coca-Cola production site in a Kyiv suburb on Thursday in just two of many such recent incidents, Ukrainian authorities said.
Leo’s remarks came as U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner arrived in Kyiv to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky after speaking with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin earlier in Moscow.
Zelensky has warned that his country is running critically low on Western-supplied air defense systems as the Kremlin has launched nearly 10 days of attacks resulting in at least 50 deaths and scores of wounded in the Kyiv region alone.
“I renew my appeal to put an end to the violence, to stop the destruction and to open hearts to dialogue and peace,” the Pontiff said. “I hope that the efforts undertaken in these days to resume negotiations will bear concrete fruit and open space for diplomacy.”
He urged Catholics to “raise our prayers to the Lord, that concord may prevail in all the conflicts of the world.”
