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Pope Francis

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The Pope's statements about the Russian war of aggression caused sharp criticism at the weekend.

Now the Vatican is rowing back.

The first condition for negotiations to end the war in Ukraine is that Russia stop its aggression, Pope Francis' deputy said in a newspaper interview.

Cardinal Pietro Parolin told the Corriere della Sera that the Vatican was pushing for a ceasefire and that "first and foremost, the aggressors should stop firing."

Francis had said in an interview about the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine, which has now been going on for more than two years: "When you see that you are defeated, that things are not going well, you have to have the courage to negotiate." Francis also agreed Demands for “the courage to surrender, to raise the white flag.”

To which he replied: »It's a question of perspective.

But I think that the stronger is the one who recognizes the situation, who thinks of the people, who has the courage of the white flag to negotiate." Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni later contradicted reports that the Pope had called on Ukraine to surrender.

The Pope's widely criticized statement comes from an interview with the Swiss broadcaster RSI that was conducted in February but only became known on Saturday.

»Our flag is yellow and blue«

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj sharply rejected the appeal on Sunday: The church is with the people, said Zelenskyj in his evening video address.

"And not two and a half thousand kilometers away, somewhere, to virtually mediate between someone who wants to live and someone who wants to destroy you."

“Our flag is yellow and blue,” Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba also wrote on Platform X on Sunday, referring to the colors of the national flag.

»This is the flag under which we live, die and win.

We will never fly another flag.”

The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry also summoned the papal nuncio on Monday to express its "disappointment" over Francis' previous statements.

Criticism also came from Germany from Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD).

"As you can imagine, the Chancellor does not agree with the Pope on this issue," said government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit.

"It is true that Ukraine is defending itself against an aggressor." CDU leader Friedrich Merz also rejected the Pope's call for peace negotiations with Russia.

Merz said he considered the statement by the head of the Catholic Church to be “fundamentally wrong.”

czl/Reuters