The pontiff said that the supply of weapons to Ukraine can be “morally permissible” when it comes to defending the country, but immoral when “there is an intention to provoke an even greater war”
< img class="aligncenter" src="https://s0.rbk.ru/v6_top_pics/media/img/7/10/756632788837107.jpg" alt="The Pope called it 'morally acceptable' to send weapons to Ukraine" />
Sending weapons to Ukraine can be “morally acceptable” when it comes to defending one's own country. This was stated by Pope Francis at a press conference after his visit to Kazakhstan, Reuters reports.
“This is a political decision that can be made from a moral point of view, on the condition of morality, these conditions are many and you can talk about them. But [it] is immoral if there is an intention to provoke another big war, sell weapons or get rid of weapons that are no longer needed. The reasons in such cases determine the morality of such an act. Protect legally. There is an expression “love for the motherland”: if you don’t defend something, then you don’t love it, and if you defend it, then you love it, — said the pontiff.
In his opinion, states need to think more about the causes of conflicts, which are becoming more frequent. “Everyone talks about peace, for 70 years the UN has been talking about peace, but at this moment how many wars are going on?” Francis noted, citing the events in Ukraine, the conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia, between Eritrea and Ethiopia, as well as in Syria and Myanmar as an example.
He added that “weapon production” this is consent to murder,” and “if we do not produce weapons within a year, then we can solve the problem of hunger.”
The United States and European states stepped up arms supplies to Ukraine after the start of the operations. These are, among other things, HIMARS MLRS, Javelin and NLAW anti-tank systems, Stinger anti-aircraft systems.
By the end of June, RBC, based on data from the Ukraine Support Tracker project of the Kiel Institute for the World Economy, calculated that the US and the EU had become the largest donors of military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine. So, since the end of February, the amount of military assistance from the US authorities has reached $ 25.5 billion, humanitarian— $9.4 billion, financial— $ 9.5 billion. EU institutions transferred to Kyiv $ 2.1 billion in military assistance, $ 1.3 billion in humanitarian aid and $ 11.6 billion— financial.
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Russia has repeatedly criticized the supply of Western weapons to Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the West only contributes to prolonging the conflict in Ukraine by supplying weapons, but Moscow will still achieve the goals of the special operation. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that the transfer of long-range weapons to Kyiv would lead to the geographical expansion of the special operation and Russia's response.
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