The Limited Times

Now you can see non-English news...

Pope wants to change Putin's mind and describes bizarre conversation - Russia demands stop of arms deliveries

2022-05-07T07:23:16.042Z


Pope wants to change Putin's mind and describes bizarre conversation - Russia demands stop of arms deliveries Created: 05/07/2022, 09:08 By: Stephanie Munk, Fabian Müller Diplomatic efforts continue in the Ukraine war. Pope Francis wants to meet Vladimir Putin in Moscow. He turned down an invitation to Kyiv. The news ticker. Ukraine conflict : Efforts to end Russia's war of aggression against


Pope wants to change Putin's mind and describes bizarre conversation - Russia demands stop of arms deliveries

Created: 05/07/2022, 09:08

By: Stephanie Munk, Fabian Müller

Diplomatic efforts continue in the Ukraine war.

Pope Francis wants to meet Vladimir Putin in Moscow.

He turned down an invitation to Kyiv.

The news ticker.

  • Ukraine conflict

    : Efforts to end Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine continue.

  • Russia directs bizarre accusations at Israel

    : It would support the "neo-Nazis in Kiev".

  • Pope Francis asks Putin for meetings

    : He wants to travel to Moscow, but not to Ukraine for the time being.

Update from May 3, 8:21 p.m .:

The Pope is ready to travel to Moscow and talk to Russian President Vladimir Putin about ending the Ukraine war.

Russia has yet to respond to the offer.

Pope Francis does not want to travel to Kyiv for the time being, although an invitation has been in place for a long time.

Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov's comparison of Ukraine's President Zelenskyy with Hitler continued to stir up controversy on Tuesday (3 May).

Russia went one better and accused Israel of supporting the “neo-Nazis in Kyiv”.

French President Emmanuel Macron spoke to Putin on the phone.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson compared the Ukraine war to a battle of good against evil.

You can read all the latest developments relating to the negotiations and international reactions to the Ukraine war in the current news ticker.

Update from May 3, 4:39 p.m .:

For the first time since the end of March, French President Emmanuel Macron has called Russia’s President Vladimir Putin about the war in Ukraine.

The conversation on Tuesday lasted more than two hours, it said from the Élysée Palace.

Paris initially did not give any further details.

The Kremlin said Putin briefed Macron on the "liberation" of the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol by Russian troops and the successful evacuation of civilians from the besieged Azovstal Steel Works.

This portrayal was overshadowed by Ukrainian media reports that Russian soldiers are said to have started a new storm on Azowstal on Tuesday - although around 200 civilians are probably still stuck there.

After more than 120 people were rescued from the factory premises last weekend, another evacuation attempt on Monday failed.

Regarding the phone call with Macron, the Kremlin also said that Putin had complained that European countries were ignoring the Ukrainian shelling of towns in the Donbass.

The West could have avoided the deaths of civilians by stopping arms deliveries, it said.

Moscow repeatedly accuses Kyiv of attacks against civilians - despite the fact that Russia itself attacked Ukraine on February 24.

Since then, Russian troops have been accused of having committed serious war crimes in the Kiev suburb of Bucha and elsewhere.

Pope wants to change Putin's mind and describes bizarre conversation - Russia meanwhile irritates with Hitler's statements

Update from May 3, 3:01 p.m .:

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has assured Ukraine of his country’s sustained support and has sharply criticized Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"It's about Ukrainian democracy versus Putin's tyranny," Johnson said in a video address to Ukraine's parliament on Tuesday.

"It's about freedom against oppression.

(...) It's about good versus evil.

And that is why Ukraine must win.” Johnson hailed the bravery and dedication of Ukrainian troops as “one of the most glorious chapters in the military history and life of your country.”

Putin made a serious mistake with the attack, Johnson said.

"This is Ukraine's finest hour, an epic chapter in your national history that will be remembered for generations to come," he said, citing former Prime Minister Winston Churchill's famous "This Was Their Finest Hour" speech from the Second world war.

"Ukraine will win, Ukraine will be free."

Boris Johnson, Prime Minister of Great Britain, speaking at the Verkhovna Rada, the Ukrainian parliament in Kyiv.

© Downing Street/PA Media/dpa

Johnson admitted mistakes.

“The truth is that we were too slow to grasp what is really happening and together we failed to impose the sanctions on Vladimir Putin that we should have imposed at the time.

We must not repeat the same mistake.” Johnson announced that the British embassy in Kyiv would reopen.

At the same time, Britain will continue to supply arms, said Johnson.

In the coming weeks, Ukraine will receive Brimstone anti-ship missiles and Stormer anti-aircraft systems.

There are also 13 armored vehicles for the evacuation of civilians.

In addition, there is further military aid worth 300 million pounds (357 million euros).

These included radar to locate Russian artillery, heavy-duty drones to resupply the armed forces, and thousands of night vision goggles.

Ukraine negotiations: Denmark hopes India can influence Putin

Update from May 3, 2:55 p.m

.: Denmark hopes that India can influence Russia in the Ukraine war.

During a visit by Indian President Narendra Modi to Copenhagen, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen demanded that Putin stop the war and the killing.

She hopes that India will exert its influence on Russia in this discussion.

Modi called for an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine, as well as dialogue and diplomacy.

India has taken a neutral stance on the Ukraine war.

It does not support western sanctions and abstains from resolutions in the UN Security Council.

At the same time, India has recently bought more cheap Russian oil.

India has long had good relations with Russia and is heavily dependent on Moscow for its military equipment and spare parts.

However, India also has good relations with the West and recently increased its cooperation with the USA.

Update from May 3, 1:08 p.m .:

Speculations about Vladimir Putin’s state of health continue.

Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov reacted in an unexpected way: When asked whether the Russian President was ill, he laughed - and then answered evasively.

Read more about it here.

Ukraine negotiations: Russia accuses Israel of helping "neo-Nazis in Kyiv".

Update from May 3, 12:28 p.m .:

After a Nazi comparison by Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov, the mood between Russia and Israel is heated.

Moscow is now raising serious allegations against Israel: The government in Jerusalem supports "the neo-Nazi regime in Kyiv," the Foreign Ministry in Moscow said on Tuesday with a view to the Ukraine war.

Israel had previously sharply criticized Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov for indirectly comparing Ukrainian President Zelenskyy with Adolf Hitler.

Lavrov said in an interview on Italian television on Sunday: "I may be wrong.

But Adolf Hitler also had Jewish blood.

That means nothing at all.

The wise Jewish people say that the most zealous anti-Semites are usually Jews.” From the outset, Russia justified its war against Ukraine with the alleged “denazification” of the neighboring country – even though Zelenskyy himself is of Jewish descent.

Israel's Foreign Minister Jair Lapid then demanded an apology.

Lavrov is promoting "a reversal of the Holocaust - by turning the victims into the criminals, by promoting a completely unfounded claim that Hitler was of Jewish descent," Lapid said.

Jair Lapid, Israel's Foreign Minister, accuses Russia of reversing the Holocaust.

© Andrew Harnik/AP Pool/dpa

The Foreign Ministry in Moscow once again called Lapid's criticism "anti-historical".

To argue with Zelenskyj's Jewish origins is "not only untenable, but also cunning".

In Ukraine there is not only "mad Russophobia and the fight against everything Russian", but also anti-Semitism and antigypsyism, according to the statement.

Ukraine-Russia negotiations: Pope Francis wants to meet Putin - and describes bizarre conversation with patriarch

First report:

Rome – Pope Francis is ready, according to his own words, to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow to urge him to end the Ukraine war.

The head of the Catholic Church told the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera

that he had asked Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin to break the news to Putin that he was willing to come to Moscow

.

Pope Francis at a meeting with Russia's ruler Vladimir Putin in 2013. © Claudio Peri/afp

“We don't have an answer yet and we still insist.

Even if I fear that Putin cannot and does not want to do the meeting at this moment,” the Pope continued.

The 85-year-old also lamented the brutality of the war: "25 years ago we experienced the same thing in Rwanda."

Russia-Ukraine negotiations: Pope Francis rejects Zelenskyj's invitation - "First I have to meet Putin"

Francis currently does not consider a visit to Ukraine to be possible.

"I can't go to Kyiv at the moment.

First I have to go to Moscow, first I have to meet Putin," said the Argentine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the Klitschko brothers had already invited Francis to come to Kyiv.

Francis said he spoke to Zelenskyy at the beginning of the war, but not to Putin.

Instead, he went to the Russian ambassador to the Holy See and asked for an explanation.

"I wanted to make a clear gesture for the whole world to see."

Ukraine negotiations: Pope reports on frightening conversation with Patriarch Kirill

He doesn't think the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, is the right person to change Putin's mind.

“I spoke to Kirill on Zoom for 40 minutes.

In the first 20, he read me the justifications for the war with a piece of paper in his hand,” said Francis.

A visit between the two churchmen that was planned for mid-June was recently canceled.

Ukraine negotiations: Pope Francis criticizes arms deliveries

The pontiff also criticized arms deliveries to Ukraine.

"The trade in arms is a scandal, only a few counteract it," said the Pope, whose real name is Jorge Bergoglio.

However, he admitted that he could not answer the question of whether supplying Ukraine was right or not because he was too far away.

However, it is clear that weapons are being tested in Ukraine.

Summing up the current situation surrounding Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine, the Pope said that "there is not enough will for peace".

Most recently, Pope Francis caused an emotional climax at the celebration of Easter Vigil in St. Peter's Basilica: he addressed a Ukrainian mayor directly.

(smu with material from dpa)

Source: merkur

All news articles on 2022-05-07

You may like

Trends 24h

News/Politics 2024-03-28T06:04:53.137Z

Latest

© Communities 2019 - Privacy

The information on this site is from external sources that are not under our control.
The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.