Ukrainian officials and allies have criticized Pope Francis for saying Kiev should have the “courage” to negotiate an end to the war with Russia, a statement many interpreted as a call for Ukraine to surrender.
The Polish foreign minister, a staunch ally of Kiev, and the Ukrainian ambassador to the Vatican both used World War II analogies to condemn the pope’s statements, while a leader of one of Ukraine’s Christian churches said on Sunday that only The country’s determined resistance to Russian aggression had prevented a mass massacre of civilians.
In an interview recorded last month with Swiss broadcaster RSI and partially released on Saturday, Francis used the phrase “the courage of the white flag” when he argued that Ukraine, faced with possible defeat, should be open to peace talks mediated by international powers.
“How about, for the sake of balance, encouraging Putin to have the courage to withdraw his army from Ukraine? Peace would be achieved immediately without the need for negotiations,” responded Polish Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski in a post on ex Twitter.
In a separate post, Sikorski drew parallels between those calling for negotiations while “denying (Ukraine) the means to defend itself” and European leaders’ “pacification” of Adolf Hitler shortly before World War II.
Andrii Yurash, Ukraine’s ambassador to the Holy See, said it was “necessary to learn lessons” from that conflict. His post on
A Vatican spokesperson later clarified that the pope supported “an end to hostilities (and) a truce reached with the courage of negotiations” rather than a total surrender of Ukraine. Matteo Bruni said the journalist who interviewed Francis used the term “white flag” in the question that sparked the controversial remarks.
“I think the strongest is the one who looks at the situation, thinks about the people and has the courage of the white flag and negotiates,” said Francis, invited to intervene in the debate among those who argue that Ukraine should be agreement on peace talks and those who argue that any negotiations would legitimize Moscow’s aggression.
Kiev remains steadfast in not engaging directly with Russia in peace talks, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said several times that the initiative in peace negotiations must come from the country that was invaded.
Throughout the war, Francis sought to maintain the Vatican’s traditional diplomatic neutrality, but this was often accompanied by apparent sympathy for the Russian logic in supporting the invasion of Ukraine, as when he observed that NATO was “barking at gateway to Russia” with its expansion towards the east. .
While the pope has spoken in the past about the need for negotiations between Kiev and Moscow, the RSI interview appears to mark the first time he has publicly used terms such as “white flag” or “defeated” when talking about the war.
Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk, head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, said Sunday that surrender is not on Ukrainians’ minds.
“Ukraine is wounded, but not conquered! Ukraine is exhausted, but it resists and will resist. Believe me, no one ever thinks of surrendering. Even where there is fighting today: listen to our people in Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Odessa, Kharkiv, Sumy,” Shevchuk said while meeting with Ukrainians in New York City. He mentioned regions that have been hit by Russian heavy artillery and drone attacks.
Shevchuk also spoke of the brutality of Moscow’s aggression, referring to the city near Kiev where the Russian occupation has left hundreds of civilians dead in the streets and in mass graves. He argued that if not for the fierce resistance of Ukrainians as Russian forces marched on the capital in February 2022, the gruesome scenes seen in Bucha would have been “just an introduction”.
On Sunday, during the Angelus prayer, from the window overlooking St. Peter’s Square, Francis said he prayed “for peace in the tormented Ukraine and in the Holy Land”.
“Let the hostilities which cause immense suffering to the civilian population cease as soon as possible,” he said.