2024-03-10 16:55:41
Kiev, Ukraine – Ukraine responded harshly to Pope Francis’ statements on Sunday, swearing “Never” surrender to Russia, in reaction to a call from the pontiff for “cprayer to raise the white flag and negotiate“.
Published on: 03/10/2024 – 17:55
2 min
“Our flag is yellow and blue. It is the flag by which we live, die and triumph. We will never raise other flags“, said Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba in a message on X (formerly Twitter).
“As for the white flag, we know the Vatican’s strategy in the first part of the 20th century. Therefore, I appeal to you to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past and to support Ukraine and its people in their fight for life“, he added, in an apparent reference to the period of the Second World War and the Church’s relations with Nazi Germany.
He said, however, to expect the sovereign pontiff “find the opportunity to make a canonical visit to Ukraine“.
In an interview with public television RTS in early February and broadcast on Saturday, Pope Francis, when asked about the situation in Ukraine, asked Kiev not to “ashamed to negotiate before things got worse“.
“I believe that the strongest are those who look at the situation, think about people and have the courage to raise the white flag and negotiate”, he also told Pope Francis in the same interview.
At the head of the Catholic church since 2013, Pope Francis had already been criticized at the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, for not having clearly designated Russia as the aggressor country.
As of Saturday night, the Vatican sought to correct the situation, insisting in a statement that the formula of “White flag” meant “a cessation of hostilities, a truce achieved with the courage to negotiate” and, not a surrender.
After praying the Angelus on Sunday, Pope Francis also called for peace “in martyred Ukraine“, but other officials misinterpreted his statements. Kiev’s ambassador to the Vatican, Andriy Yurash, compared the suggestion to negotiations with Hitler during World War II.
And he went further, stating in X that: “If we want to end the war, we must do everything we can to kill the Dragon!”
Who also supported Ukraine’s position was Edgars Rinkevics, president of Latvia – another former Soviet republic with tense relations with Moscow, for fear of Russian aggression at any moment, who in the X appealed to Ukraine “not to capitulate in the face of evil“, but yes, the “beat him“, so that he is the “raise the white flag.”
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