NNA – Pope Francis proposed to establish a two-week truce in Ukraine from April 9 during the celebration of Catholic and Orthodox Easter. This is reported by TASS with reference to the chairman of the World Union of Old Believers Leonid Sevastyanov, who had a personal conversation with the pontiff.
“The next week is the Catholic Easter week, and then the Orthodox Easter week. And the Pope just told me that in honor of this he proposes that all hostilities in the special military operation zone in Ukraine cease for two weeks, ”said Sevastyanov.
He explained that the pontiff calls these days to declare a truce. Sevastyanov stressed that within two weeks there should be “no attacks” and shelling.
In 2023, Catholic Easter takes place on April 9, and Orthodox Easter on April 16.
Earlier, President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko proposed to establish a truce between the parties to the conflict during his message to the people and the parliament of the republic. “Truce [надо] declare without the right to move and regroup troops on both sides, without the right to transfer weapons and ammunition, manpower and equipment. All. Dead. Freeze,” he stressed.
The day before, on April 6, Chinese President Xi Jinping and French President Emmanuel Macron spoke in favor of peace talks between Russia and Ukraine. “Together with France, we call on the international community to maintain prudence and restraint and avoid any action that could worsen the crisis,” Xi Jinping said after talks with Macron in Beijing.
Earlier, a truce in Ukraine at the initiative of the Russian side was in effect from 12:00 on January 6 to 24:00 on January 7 in connection with the celebration of Christmas. However, the idea of a ceasefire was not supported by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. The Ukrainian side has repeatedly violated the established regime of silence. The Russian Defense Ministry stressed that the Russian military observed the ceasefire until midnight on January 7.
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