The war in Eastern Europe: The American newspaper Forbes reported today (Tuesday) that Pope Francis wanted to meet with the Russian president, Vladimir Putin. In a special interview, the pope condemned the Russian president and likened the bombings of the Russian army in Ukraine to the 1994 genocide in Rwanda.
Meanwhile, the Vatican has informed the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera of the pope’s desire to hold the meeting, but has not yet heard Russia’s response. It was further reported that the pope called the attacks of the Russian army in Ukraine as “cruel”. This is the first time the pope has addressed Putin by name, since Russia invaded Ukraine. This, against the background of Francis’ desire to hear about neutrality within the conflict.
However, the pope stressed that “I am afraid Putin can not and does not want to carry out the infamy at this time. But how can we not stop this cruelty? 25 years ago we saw the same things in Rwanda.” At the same time, the Russian state news agency TASS published an article covering the pope’s remarks, focusing on his stated intentions to travel to Moscow and not Kiev, as an alleged way of implying that the pope is in favor of Russia, despite his harsh remarks. At the same time, a news agency article did not include the negative comments about the Russian president.
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As you may recall, last month the pope received sharp reactions following plans to include a joint meeting of Russian and Ukrainian families as part of the “Good Friday” celebration in Rome, in order to signal unity. The meeting was later canceled, as Ukrainian clerics said the prayer “diminishes Russia’s aggressive role in the war.”