Pope Leo expresses hope Ukraine, Russia negotiations bear fruit

Pope Leo XIV once again appealed for peace in Ukraine and prayed that U.S.-led negotiation efforts would finally bring an end to the death and destruction caused by the conflict now in its fourth year.

"I renew my appeal to put an end to the violence, to stop the destruction and to open hearts to dialogue and peace," the pope said Sept. 6 after leading pilgrims gathered in St. Peter's Square in praying the Angelus.

"I hope that the efforts undertaken in these days to resume negotiations will bear concrete fruit and open space for diplomacy," he said.

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Russia stepped up its attacks against Ukraine, launching a series of devastating attacks at the end of August and into September. According to a Sept. 1 report by The Associated Press, a Russian military bombing of the capital city of Kyiv over a 12-hour period killed over a dozen people.

The attacks, according to AP, target civilian infrastructure and residential buildings. For its part, Ukrainian drone attacks over the summer targeted Russian retailers and oil refineries.

Commenting on the continued Russian strikes, Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk of Kyiv-Halych, the head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, said that such attacks that deliberately target civilians "at the most vulnerable moments of their lives" were "state terrorism."

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"The worst thing is that the enemy is using modern means, including unmanned systems, to attack residential areas at night," he said in a video message published Sept. 6, adding that during the day, especially after Sept. 1, when the academic year began in Ukraine, Russia "deliberately attacks schools, universities, and dormitories."

In his appeal, Pope Leo said he followed news of the violent attacks in Ukraine "with a sorrowful heart," while lamenting the "deaths of innocent people."

"My heart goes out to the suffering people, who for years have lived in anguish and fear," he said.

Expressing his hope for diplomacy to resume, Pope Leo called on the faithful to "raise our prayers to the Lord, so that harmony may prevail in all the conflicts of the world."

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However, both countries temporarily halted strikes with the arrival of U.S. envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff in Moscow Sept. 5 for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin and the following day with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

While the talks with Putin were described as "constructive," there was no concrete sign that either country was back on the negotiating table. At a Sept. 6 press conference, Zelenskyy said he was seeking security guarantees from the United States to prepare defenses for the coming winter months, AP reported.

(Junno Arocho Esteves writes for OSV News from Malmö, Sweden.)