"White flag"

Pope calls for negotiations: Kiev is outraged

(Bild: AP)

Pope Francis has incurred the wrath of Kiev with his latest comments on the war in Ukraine and how it could be ended. In a TV interview, the Argentinian reportedly said that Ukraine should have "the courage to fly the white flag and negotiate". The Ukrainian ambassador to the Holy See then asked whether anyone had seriously discussed peace with Hitler during the Second World War and waved the white flag to pacify him.

With a view to Moscow and Russian President Vladimir Putin, Andriy Yurash added, according to Kathpress, that the lesson from history is: "If we want to end the war, we must do everything we can to slay the dragon!" Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba called for support for Ukraine and its people in the fight for their own lives. "The strongest is the one who stands on the side of good in the battle between good and evil and does not try to put them on the same level and call this 'negotiations'."

According to Kathpress, the Ukrainian human rights activist Oleksandra Matvychuk explained that a capitulation for Ukraine would mean Russian occupation. This means "torture, sexual violence, enforced disappearance, rejection of one's own identity, forced adoption of one's own children, filtration camps and mass graves", said Matvychuk. "Occupation is just another form of war," said the chairwoman of the Kyiv Center for Civil Liberties, which was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2022.

Ukrainian soldiers mourn their fallen comrades.

(Bild: AP)

The co-founder of the "International Center for Ukrainian Victory", Olena Haluschka, wrote on X: "The Pope should finally have the courage to condemn an aggressor instead of accusing the victim of resisting genocide."

(Bild: AP)

Poland's foreign minister criticizes the Pope
Poland's Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski also joined the chorus of critics. "How about encouraging Putin to have the courage to withdraw his army from Ukraine? Then peace would return immediately, without the need for negotiations," wrote Sikorski on Sunday on X. 

Vatican clarifies: "Negotiation is never a surrender"
In the Vatican, efforts are being made to correct the Pope's statements. The online portal "Vatican News", which belongs to the Holy See, published a report on Sunday in several languages, including Ukrainian, on a corresponding statement by Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni. According to the report, Bruni explained that the Pope's intention was "above all to call for a ceasefire and to revive the courage to negotiate". 

By saying that Ukraine should have "the courage to fly the white flag and to negotiate", the Pontiff had taken up the image of the white flag introduced by the interviewer, Vatican spokesman Bruni explained. The meaning of the statement was that Francis wanted a "diplomatic solution for a just and lasting peace". However, Francis made it very clear that a negotiation "is never a surrender".