Kyiv criticized Pope Francis’ recent comments that Ukraine should “have the courage to raise the white flag,” meaning it should enter talks with Russia two years after Moscow’s invasion.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on social media: “Our flag is yellow and blue. It is the flag by which we live, die and win. We will never raise any other flag. ” He vowed “never” to surrender.
Kuleba called on the pope to “stand on the side of justice” and not to put the opposing sides “on the same footing and call it ‘negotiation.'”
He also thanked the pope for his “continuous prayers for peace” and said Kyiv hoped the clergy would visit Ukraine.
Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni responded to the criticism, saying the pope urged “a cessation of hostilities (and) the courage to negotiate a truce” rather than an outright surrender for Ukraine.
Francis urged Ukraine to “have the courage to negotiate” an end to its war with Russia, according to a transcript of an interview with Swiss broadcaster RSI last month and part of a video provided to Reuters on Saturday.
Bruni said the pope’s comments were in response to a question from interviewer Lorenzo Buccella, who used the term “white flag” to refer to peace talks initiated by Ukraine. “In Ukraine, some people are calling for the courage to surrender with a white flag. But others say it will legitimize the stronger parties. What do you think?” Buchera asked.
“This is an explanation, it is a fact. I think the strongest explanation is one that pays attention to the situation, thinks of the people, has white-flag courage and negotiates,” Francis said, adding that negotiations should have the help of international powers proceed below.
The interview is expected to be broadcast on March 20.
“We remain hopeful that, after two years of devastating war in the heart of Europe, the Pope will find the opportunity to make an apostolic visit to Ukraine to support more than one million Ukrainian Catholics, more than five million Greek Catholics and all Ukrainians,” said.
Pope Francis’ message that Ukraine should “have the courage to negotiate” an end to its war with Russia, now in its third year, has also drawn harsh criticism from other officials in Kyiv and many Ukraine allies.
Kyiv’s allies Poland’s Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski and Ukraine’s ambassador to the Vatican Andrii Yurash both used World War II analogies to condemn the pope’s remarks, while a Ukrainian Christian church Only the country’s determined resistance to Russian aggression has prevented mass killings of civilians, a leader said on Sunday.
“For balance, encourage [Russian President Vladimir] Does Putin have the courage to withdraw troops from Ukraine? Peace will come immediately, without negotiation. ” Sikorski responded in a post on X (formerly Twitter).
In another article, Sikorsky compared those who called for negotiations but “rejected (Ukraine’s) means of self-defense” to the “appeasement” of Adolf Hitler by European leaders before World War II.
Yurash also posted on [the] War, we must do everything we can to kill [the] dragon. ”
Archbishop Svyatoslav Shevchuk, head of Ukraine’s Greek Catholic Church, said on Sunday that Ukrainians were not considering surrender.
“Ukraine is wounded, but not conquered! Ukraine is exhausted, but it still exists and will continue to do so. Believe me, surrender is not on anyone’s mind,” he said during a meeting with Ukrainians in New York.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said that while he wants peace, he will not give up any territory. The Kremlin has ruled out peace talks on terms set by Kiev.
Mutual attacks continue
Ukrainian air defense systems destroyed 35 of 39 Russian attack drones launched at night, the Ukrainian Air Force said on Sunday.
The air force said on the Telegram messaging app that most of the drones were destroyed in eastern and southern Ukraine. It did not say whether there was any damage.
The Air Force said Russia launched four S-300 anti-aircraft missiles. It did not say what happened to the missiles or whether they reached their targets.
Russian artillery strikes on Saturday hit the town of Chervonory Horivka across the Dnieper River from the Russian-controlled Zaporozhye nuclear power plant, killing three people, including a 16-year-old boy and another, Ukrainian officials said. A 7-year-old boy was injured on Saturday when a Russian bomb fell on a residential area in the southern city of Kherson.
Shelling in the Ukrainian village of Kulbachi in Kursk killed a woman and seriously injured her husband, the governor of Russia’s border region with Ukraine said on Sunday.
“A local female resident died after a fire broke out in a residential building,” Governor Roman Starovoit said on the Telegram messaging app. “Her husband was severely burned.”
Another house in the village was damaged and some lost power.
Reuters could not independently verify the report. Ukraine had no immediate comment.
Starovoit also said that debris from a downed Ukrainian drone caused a fire at an oil depot in the Kursk region.
Nine Ukrainian drones struck the Belgorod region, another southern Russian province bordering Ukraine, overnight and on Sunday, according to local governor Vyacheslav Gradkov. Late on Sunday, the Russian Defense Ministry said two drones were shot down over Russia’s northern Novgorod region, about 1,000 kilometers from the Ukrainian border. There have been no reports of casualties.
In the two years since Russia launched a war against Ukraine, bombing attacks have occurred frequently in areas bordering Russia and Ukraine. Russian officials blamed the attack on Ukrainian troops or pro-Ukrainian saboteurs.
Information for this report was obtained in part from Reuters, the Associated Press and AFP.
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