JAKARTA - The Vatican's foreign minister has condemned reports of the bombing of a children's hospital in the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol, which was besieged by the Russian invasion.
The Mariupol city council said the hospital had been hit by Russian air strikes several times, causing "colossal" destruction.
Meanwhile, the governor of the Donetsk Region said about 17 people were injured, including a woman who was giving birth. However, the report could not immediately be verified.
"I said bombing a hospital is unacceptable. There is no reason, no motivation, to do this," Cardinal Pietro Parolin told reporters who asked him at a conference in Rome about the reported bombing.
"The first version that was given for this war was, it was a military operation whose only aim was to destroy military installations in Ukraine, to ensure Russia's security. The bombing of children's hospitals, children's hospitals, had nothing to do with this," Parolin stressed.
Earlier, Pope Francis had implicitly rejected Russia's use of the term "special military operations" for its invasion of Ukraine, saying the country was being hit by war and calling for an immediate end to the fighting, on Sunday.
Cardinal Parolin, who ranks second after the pope in the Vatican hierarchy, spoke by telephone with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Tuesday, telling him the Holy See of the Vatican wants armed attacks in Ukraine to stop and humanitarian corridors secured.
"I am very worried, first of all by what is happening, because it has become an all-out war," Cardinal Parolin said on Wednesday, adding that his conversation with Lavrov on Tuesday lasted more than 30 minutes.
Cardinal Parolin said, "Minister Lavrov did not give me any guarantees".
Meanwhile, Ukraine has said it will welcome Vatican mediation and Parolin has said earlier it is willing to facilitate dialogue between Russia and Ukraine.
"There has to be openness on the part of everyone, because only if there is a will to really negotiate and find an agreement can problems be resolved," Parolin said.
"If everyone sticks to their positions, nothing can be done. The war will continue and become more and more deadly, and with the prospect, God help us, it could even spread. I hope not, I hope not," he prayed.
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