Vatican says end to Russian aggression is first condition for Ukraine peace
St Peters Square, Vatican City, Rome, Italy.
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The first condition for any negotiations to end the war in Ukraine is that Russia should halt its aggression, the second in command to Pope Francis said in a newspaper interview on Tuesday.
Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry summoned the papal nuncio on Monday to express “disappointment” with previous comments by Francis that Ukraine should “show the courage of the white flag” and open talks with Russia to end the two-year-old war.
Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s secretary of state, told Corriere della Sera daily on Tuesday that the Vatican was pressing for a cease-fire and “first of all it should be the aggressors who stop firing.”
— Reuters
Russian regions reportedly attacked by wave of Ukrainian drones, missiles and shelling
Russian officials in the region of Belgorod, Russia, on Feb. 15, 2024.
Anadolu | Anadolu | Getty Images
Russian authorities said seven regions were targeted by a wave of Ukrainian drones overnight, with attacks carried out against the Belgorod, Bryansk, Kursk, Leningrad, Moscow, Oryol and Tula regions.
Air defense systems destroyed and intercepted 25 Ukrainian drones (also known as UAVs, unmanned aerial vehicles) overnight over the regions, the Russian Ministry of Defense said, according to a statement published by the Tass news agency.
“Tonight, an attempt by the Kiev regime to carry out a terrorist attack using 25 aircraft-type UAVs on objects on the territory of the Russian Federation was stopped,” the ministry said in a statement reported by Tass.
“Air defense systems on duty intercepted and destroyed over the territories of Moscow (2 UAVs), Leningrad (1 UAV), Belgorod (7 UAVs), Kursk (11 UAVs), Bryansk (1 UAV), Tula (1 UAV) and Oryol (2 UAVs) regions,” the department said.
In a separate report, Tass cited the defense ministry as saying it had foiled a separate attempt to target…
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