Pope urges diplomatic solution to Ukraine war

• Call for peace as citizens mark two years since Russian invasion

Pope Francis yesterday called for a diplomatic solution to the war in Ukraine that would lead to a just and lasting peace, a day after the second anniversary of Russia’s invasion.

“So many victims, wounded, destruction, anguish and tears in a period that is becoming terribly long and whose end is not in sight. It is a war that not only devastates that region but also unleashes global waves of hate and fear,” the pope said during his weekly Angelus message.

“I plead for that little bit of humanity to be found to create the conditions for a diplomatic solution in search of a just and lasting peace,” he said.

The Group of Seven (G7) major democracies on Saturday pledged to stand by Ukraine, and Western leaders travelled to Kyiv to show solidarity.

“As Ukraine enters the third year of this relentless war, its government and its people can count on the G7’s support for as long as it takes,” the G7 leaders said in a statement.

The officials, who have been critical sources of military and financial aid to Kyiv, vowed to keep targeting Russia’s sources of revenue with sanctions.

Ukraine leader Volodymyr Zelensky stressed the need to protect Ukrainian skies and strengthen its army. “We are counting on you,” he said on the call, according to remarks published on his website.

Looking to dispel concerns that the West is losing interest in the conflict, Italy’s Giorgia Meloni and Canada’s Justin Trudeau arrived in Kyiv early on Saturday with European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo.

“The message I want to send today to... all the Ukrainian people is that they are not alone,” Meloni said as she signed a defence pact with Zelensky.

Trudeau signed a similar 10year accord and pledged about $2.25bn in financial and military support this year. “We will stand with Ukraine with whatever it takes, for as long as it takes,” Trudeau said.

Ordinary Ukrainians held services, laying flowers to honour their many dead, amid fears that the war will last years longer as Russian President Vladimir Putin shows no relenting.

“I’m a realist and understand that most likely the war will drag on for the next three or four years. I hope society will mobilise, I hope we’ll be able to somehow defeat Russia,” said Denys Symonovskiy in Kyiv.

The war continued unabated. Russian drones attacked the port of Odesa for a second night running, hitting a residential building and killing one person, the regional governor said. In Dnipro, a Russian drone hit an apartment building and a rescue operation uncovered two dead.

Meanwhile, a source in Kyiv said Ukrainian drones had caused a blaze at a Russian steel plant, which a Russian official identified as one in Lipetsk, about 400km from Ukraine, which is responsible for about 18% of Russian output.

The Canadian and Italian security deals mirror similar pacts signed recently with France and Germany.

However, $61bn in aid promised by US President Joe Biden is being blocked by Republicans in Congress.

Seeking to maintain Western focus on Ukraine, Zelensky has warned Putin may not stop at Ukraine’s borders if he emerges victorious. Putin dismisses such claims and casts the war as a wider struggle with the US.