World leaders must try to stop the Ukraine war

India has so far remained neutral in the current war between Russia and Ukraine. However, the war that has been going on for two weeks is now taking a devastating form. In such a situation, the world leaders should take the initiative to promote peace and talks between the two conflicting countries. It is a matter of relief that India has started thinking in this direction. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has talked about mediating between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. It is expected that India’s good relations with both the countries will be effective in establishing peace. Since the beginning of the war, the prime minister has spoken to Putin three times and to Zelensky twice over the phone. Modi’s suggestion that Putin and Zelensky should hold direct talks can certainly help in averting the war. However, it is a worrying situation that the world’s biggest leaders have been unable to stop this inhuman war even after so much destruction and loss of precious lives of innocent people.
Ven. Bhikkhu Sanghasena, a world-renowned Buddhist guru from Ladakh, says that such a passion for war is humanity’s greatest folly. Humanity needs compassion, not war. Through compassion this beautiful world can become a heaven and one can experience divine life on this earth. Caught in the web of greed and driven by selfishness, man has turned this beautiful heavenly earth into a battlefield. Demons and ghosts are only in stories to scare children, the real devils and ghosts are people who have strayed from the path of mercy and righteousness. If we look around us, the world seems like a madhouse. In three thousand years humanity fought five thousand wars. If this is not a madhouse, then what else can we call it? The escalating war between Ukraine and Russia is extremely serious and dangerous, and the top world leaders need to address this crisis urgently. This is not an Olympic sport; it is a question of life and death – not only for the people of Ukraine and Russia, but for the whole world and the whole of mankind.
World leaders should think seriously about how to stop Putin from using nuclear weapons against the people of Ukraine. They should understand that just as darkness does not dispel darkness, similarly hatred is never quelled by hatred. Due to the war between Ukraine and Russia, a large number of innocent people, including about half a million children and one million women, have taken refuge in neighboring countries. The men of these displaced families are trapped in Ukraine in the midst of war. The destruction of property and infrastructure is beyond imagination. The global economy has been badly affected and the fear of the third world war or the nuclear war is being felt everywhere. World leaders and the United Nations have failed to stop this most dangerous war. The supply of arms and ammunition to Ukraine from the US and NATO to continue the war is also a big question. Is this a solution? Wouldn’t this further fuel the fire of war? Instead of adding fuel, leaders must come to the negotiating table, listen to each other and find the middle way.