Pelé, a three-time world champion, urged Russia to end its occupation of Ukraine in an open letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin today. In a lengthy text posted on his social networks, the three-time world champion says there are no arguments to justify violence and recalled a meeting between the two because of the 2018 World Cup held in Russia.
The letter was posted by Pele on his Instagram account while Ukraine was on the pitch against Scotland in the 2022 World Cup Qualification match. The game was delayed in March due to Russia’s invasion of the neighboring country.
“I want to use today’s match as an opportunity to make a request: Stop this invasion. There are no arguments justifying the violence,” Pele wrote in the letter.
“When we met in the past and exchanged a big smile with a long handshake, it was unimaginable that we were as divided as we are today,” he added.
Pele and Putin met in the grandstand of a Russian stadium in St Petersburg in June 2017 on the occasion of the Confederations Cup, a tournament held a year before the World Cup in Russia and serving as a test for the World Cup. The former actor said in an interview after the meeting that he said that he was a fan of Putin as a child.
Then, Pele met again with the President of Russia on the occasion of the World Cup draw held in Moscow in December 2017. The two were photographed smiling and toasting backstage at the ceremony.
“I promised myself many years ago that I will always raise my voice for peace as much as I can. The power to end this conflict is in your hands. The same thing I suppressed at our last meeting in Moscow in 2017. Pele said in the letter:
On February 24, Putin launched what Russia calls “special operations” in Ukraine, on the pretext of disarming the neighboring country and “freeing it from rage”. Ukraine and its western allies call this a baseless excuse for a war of aggression without reason.
In 1969, in the midst of a civil war in Africa, rival powers, Pelé and Santos’ team, ?Pelé Eterno?
source: Noticias
