Ukraine “disappointed”: Vatican envoy summoned for Pope’s words on war with Russia

Ukraine summoned the Vatican envoy in protest from the statements of Pope Francis, who on Saturday asked Kiev to have “the courage to raise the white flag and negotiate” with Russia.

«Visvaldas Kulbokas was informed that Ukraine she is disappointed by the words of the pontiff on the “white flag” and the need to “demonstrate courage and negotiate with the aggressor”, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.

Ukrainian diplomacy accused the Pope of “legalizing the law of the strongest” and of encouraging him to “continue to ignore international law”.

“The head of the Holy See should have sent signals to the international community on the need to immediately join forces to ensure the victory of good over evil, and launched an appeal to the aggressor, not to the victim”Kiev considered.

The president, shocked

Already on Sunday, President Volodimir Zelenskyj reacted harshly to the words of the Argentine pontiff and assured him His country will “never” raise the white flag in front of Russia.

The chancellor also responded on Sunday. “Our flag is yellow and blue. This is the flag by which we live, die and triumph. We will never raise other flags,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitro Kuleba said in a message on the X social network.

«As regards the white flag, we know the Vatican’s strategy in the first part of the 20th century. I ask you to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past and to support Ukraine and its people in the struggle for life,” she added, clearly referring to the collusion between the Vatican and Germany in the times of Nazism.

However, Kuleba said he hopes so the Argentine pontiff “finds the opportunity to make a canonical visit to Ukraine“In an interview with Swiss public television RTS broadcast on Saturday, Francis was asked about the possibilities of resolving the conflict in Ukraine and asked him not to be “ashamed of negotiating before things get worse.”

Since Saturday evening the Vatican has been trying to correct the statements, specifying in a statement that the expression “white flag” in this case referred to “a cessation of hostilities, a truce reached with the courage to negotiate”, and not to a surrender .

Francis, who has led the Catholic Church since 2013, had already been criticized in the first months of the Russian invasion of Ukraine for not having clearly identified Russia as the aggressor.

The primate of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, which officially has more than 5 million members in Ukraine, also reacted, without however clearly mentioning the pontiff.