The European Evangelical Alliance (EEA) has issued a public "lament" urging European Christians to pray amid ongoing violence and suffering in Ukraine, three years after Russia's invasion. The statement comes as high-level talks among world leaders seek to end the prolonged conflict.
On Feb. 18, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio led a team of negotiators approved by President Donald Trump in a four-hour crisis meeting with a Russian delegation led by Sergey Lavrov, Russia’s minister of foreign affairs, inside Diriyah Palace in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, excluded from the talks, has insisted that no agreement will be reached without Ukraine’s involvement.
After the meeting, the BBC quoted Kirill Dmitriev, head of Russia’s sovereign wealth fund and a participant in the talks, as saying the conversation was "very respectful, calm." He rejected former U.S. President Joe Biden’s "logic," instead asserting, "There’s a new logic where we need to talk and understand what we agree upon and if there are differences we need to understand what they are."
The Riyadh talks followed an emergency meeting of European leaders on Feb. 17, hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris. Concerned that Ukraine had been left out of the U.S.-Russia negotiations, the summit included European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
Meanwhile, the EEA issued a statement on Feb. 17 condemning Russia for "violently enter[ing] more Ukrainian territory unprovoked and unexplained."
"As European Christians, we lament," the statement read. "Time will tell how much Ukraine will be listened to and whether their wishes will be respected. Now, more than ever, is the time to pray."
The EEA statement listed key details of the conflict and highlighted other "unjust" global wars that also warrant lamentation.
"We lament that Russian bombs, drones, tanks, and troops remain in a territory that does not belong to them," the statement read. "We lament the damage and destruction that has been inflicted on Ukraine since the beginning of the war and that continues daily, even now. We lament the death of hundreds of thousands of people who never asked for this war nor did anything to provoke it.
"We lament the families who have been torn apart, women and children sent away, and for those who had to flee for their lives. We lament for the men, some who were soldiers and many more who were not, who gave their lives to defend their land and families. We lament for many more who are traumatized and mutilated by what they have had to face."
The EEA also lamented the prevalence of "more propaganda than truth."
"We will always stand for the truth and lament whenever it is tossed aside for someone’s agenda. We deeply lament that the name of God has been used to justify invasion, expansion, and constant oppression."
Despite its lament, the EEA emphasized that "we are not without hope" and affirmed that "truth will defeat the lies that are told."
"We have hope that mercy, compassion, and peace will overthrow hatred, anger, and violence," the statement continued. "We have faith that God will make His name known in both Russia and Ukraine and that Name will be understood as the Prince of Peace, the God of love and of justice.
"We hold fast to the hope that there is still the possibility of peace and of reconciliation. As European Christians, we refuse to give into despair and hopelessness."
The EEA also stated its refusal "to remain silent" in the face of "injustice, violence, and murder," calling on national leaders to pressure "powers" that "try to get their way through violence and destruction."
"We call on President Putin to put a stop to this war, remove all troops, and, we still dare to call on Russia to remain within the borders established by international law," the statement read.
Christian Daily International has previously reported that evangelicals in Ukraine do not favor a peace agreement that grants territory to Russia, as the Russian military already seeks to end the evangelical presence in areas it controls, according to sources from Ukraine.
“For evangelical people in Ukraine, it is not only important to achieve peace for themselves only – they want to achieve peace and freedom for their brothers and sisters in the regions under Russian control,” Dr. Maksym Vasin of the Institute for Religious Freedom, based in Kyiv, told Christian Daily International. “That’s why it will be not a perfect deal, a peaceful deal, if thousands of evangelical Christians will continue to be persecuted under Russian authority for years.”
The EEA concluded its statement on a hopeful note: "We are people of hope, of love, and of peace. We believe in justice and mercy. We pray for eventual reconciliation and understanding for the way forward. We will not stop praying. We are determined and compelled by love to stand in the gap for the vulnerable and oppressed. Three years is enough. We pray for sustainable peace and justice."
