Political Earthquake in Ukraine After RSI Interview with Pope
The pontiff's statements about “white flag courage” and an invitation to talks angered Ukrainian politicians
Pope Francis’s statements regarding the war unleashed by Russia in Ukraine have provoked not only very sharp criticism in Kiev. Ukrainian nationalists immediately included the Pope in the so-called Mirotvorets (Peacemaker), a list of “sworn enemies of Ukraine” to be physically destroyed (photo below).
In an interview Pope Francis gave to the Italian-language Swiss radio and television station RSI, the pontiff stated, on the one hand, that “the one who thinks of the people is stronger and has courage under the white flag,” and on the other hand, that “when you see that you are failing, that things are not going well, you have to have the courage to negotiate. This is shameful, but how many deaths will this end with?”
The words coming from Kiev’s political leaders, who are competing to express their “contempt,” are decidedly harsher. Pope Bergoglio’s call for a compromise, which would end hostilities, bring defeat to Ukraine, and invite its leaders to surrender, prompted Matteo Bruni, director of the Vatican press office, to issue a clarification. “The Pope uses the term ‘white flag,’ applying the image suggested by the interviewer, to refer to the cessation of hostilities, the truce reached thanks to the courage of the negotiations,” Matteo Bruni explained, emphasizing that “touching on each military situation, the Pope said clearly: ‘Negotiations are never a capitulation.’”
The Holy See’s clarification was not enough to assuage the anger of the Kiev authorities, as well as the large Ukrainian diaspora present in Italy as elsewhere. The Ukrainian Embassy to the Holy See suggested in a statement that the Bishop of Rome “study the lessons of World War II,” comparing Russia to Hitler’s Germany.
And although Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has not yet expressed his opinion on the RSI pontiff’s statements, Kiev’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba clarified in a press release about Ukraine that “our flag is yellow and blue. We will never raise any other flags.”
