Pope Francis: Ukraine becomes a dramatic theater of war

January 12 held a traditional New Year's meeting with Pope Francis heads of diplomatic missions of foreign states and international organizations accredited to the Vatican.

In this regard, the pontiff delivered a speech, which was dedicated to Vatican diplomatic activities, major international events of the past year and the challenges the international community is facing on the eve of 2015. During the speech, the Pope specially mentioned the situation in Ukraine, as reported by Ukraine’s Embassy to the Holy See (Vatican) website.

He said that “endless conflicts are, in fact, a true and real world war being waged partially throughout the world, and, first of all, in Ukraine, which is close to us, which became the dramatic theater of operations. I hope that through dialogue, the efforts to end the hostilities will be consolidated and that the parties concerned will follow the path of mutual trust and fraternal reconciliation to end the current crisisas soon as possible, in a spirit of respect for international law.”