ROME — Pope Francis called for renewed efforts at peace Wednesday to counteract the escalation of tensions caused by the Russian military buildup at the border with Ukraine.
Speaking after his weekly general audience in the Vatican, the pope thanked people and communities for joining in a January 26 day of prayer for peace in Ukraine.
“Let us continue to implore the God of peace that tensions and threats of war be overcome through serious dialogue, and that the ‘Normandy Format’ talks may also contribute to this,” the pontiff added. “Let us not forget: war is madness!”
By Normandy Format the pope was referring to meetings among leaders of Russia, Ukraine, Germany, and France in order to resolve differences, which date back to the 2014 D-Day celebration in Normandy, France, where representatives of the four nations met in an effort to resolve the war in Donbas.
Another Normandy format meeting later took place in Minsk, followed by similar meetings in Berlin in 2016 and in Paris in 2019, and a similar meeting took place last month.
On Tuesday, French President Emmanuel Macron said leaders of the four countries will again meet in Berlin later this week to discuss possibilities of a cease-fire as well as effective political solutions to ongoing tensions.
Macron said a new meeting under the Normandy format will take place February 10 among diplomats from Ukraine, Russia, Germany, and France to attempt to resolve rising tensions through political dialogue.
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