The Archbishop of York has labelled the Russian attack on Ukraine ‘an act of great evil’.
In a joint statement with fellow Church of England leader the Archbishop of Canterbury, Stephen Cottrell said: “The horrific and unprovoked attack on Ukraine is an act of great evil.
“Placing our trust in Jesus Christ, the author of peace, we pray for an urgent ceasefire and a withdrawal of Russian forces.
“We call for a public decision to choose the way of peace and an international conference to secure long term agreements for stability and lasting peace.
Russian president Vladimir Putin ordered his military forces to attack Ukraine early this morning.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that the move made by Russia was a “catastrophe for our continent”, and added:
Today in concert with our allies we will agree a massive package of economic sanctions designed in time to hobble the Russian economy.
Diplomatically, politically, economically, and eventually, militarily, this hideous and barbaric venture of Vladimir Putin must end in failure.
In York, leading politicians have been giving their reaction.
In November 2021 council leader Keith Aspden and the Lord Mayor of York Chris Cullwick welcomed the Mayor of Lviv Andriy Sadovyi and colleagues to York.
Today Keith Aspden extended our city’s support and solidarity with the people of Ukraine:.
We stand with our Ukrainian friends at this dark and dangerous time. We are proud of our links with the city of Lviv and Ukraine and extend our support and solidarity as the people of Ukraine face this horrendous attack.
I know that York’s residents will be keeping Ukraine in their thoughts, and we have reached out to our friends from Lviv to pass on our city’s support and solidarity.
Our MPs have also been shocked by events. The Conservative MP for York Outer Julian Sturdy said:
Britain and her allies must be unequivocal in our unrelenting support for Ukraine and our strong condemnation of Russia’s evil and unprovoked aggression. The West will proudly stand shoulder to shoulder with Ukraine and will not let Putin’s wicked tyranny succeed.
Putin may think he can act with impunity, but we must respond robustly by bolstering existing sanctions to cripple his support network while providing necessary aid to Ukraine. The message must be clear that we will completely isolate Russia alongside any country that facilitates their illegal occupation of a sovereign nation.
Putin, Russia and their allies will be made to pay for their crimes against innocent Ukrainian men and women.
And the Labour MP for York Central Rachael Maskell said:
Today our focus must be on the safety and security of the people of Ukraine and out thoughts and actions must be to protect them, and ensure that the support they require is available to them.
At the same time, we must acknowledge that Mr Putin does not represent the stance of the peaceful and progressive people in Russia, many of whom will also be fearful of these latest incursions.
We are proud to be a Human Rights City in York and must do all we can to support both the peaceful Ukrainian and Russian diaspora in York, and stand with them at this time. I am here to help anyone who is stuck in Ukraine to assist them to find a safe passage out, as we have been doing.
None of us want to see fighting and bloodshed, we must act with wisdom and listen carefully to avoid an escalation to full scale war.
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