Ahmet Gençtürk
25 February 2022•Update: 26 February 2022
ANKARA
Pope Francis on Friday visited the Russian Embassy in Rome and expressed concern over Moscow’s military intervention in Ukraine.
According to the official Vatican News website, the pope spent over half an hour at the Russian embassy and appealed for “greater space for negotiations.”
He appealed "to those with political responsibility to examine their consciences seriously before God, who is the God of peace and not of war,” the website said.
Russia’s military intervention in Ukraine entered its second day on Friday, with the latest reports indicating that Russian troops were heading toward the capital Kyiv from several directions.
Russian President Vladimir Putin had ordered the military intervention on Thursday, just days after recognizing two separatist-held enclaves in eastern Ukraine.
He claimed that Moscow had no plan to occupy the neighboring country, but wanted to “demilitarize” and “denazify” Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Russia of trying to install a puppet government and said Ukrainians will defend their country against Russian aggression.
Tensions started escalating late last year when Ukraine, the US and its allies accused Russia of amassing nearly 150,000 troops on the border with Ukraine.
They claimed Russia was preparing to invade its western neighbor, allegations consistently rejected by Moscow.
