Pope Francis: Ukraine must have the courage to raise the white flag

The Pope referred to the issue of war in Ukraine. “When you see that things are not going well, you have to have the courage to raise the white flag,” Francis said in a preview of the interview, scheduled to air on March 20. A Vatican spokesman had previously commented on these words and explained that the Pope meant something different from what resulted from his statement.

Pope Francis He said that Ukraine should show “white flag” courage. – When you see that you are defeated and things are not going well, You must have the courage to negotiate – the Pope said in an interview with the Swiss RSI.

The head of the church spoke about this during an interview recorded by the Swiss Public Broadcasting Corporation last month. Now the announcement has been made, A The full conversation will be broadcast on March 20.

Pope Francis: Do not be shy about negotiating

As Francis added, the talks must take place with the help of great powers. According to him, we need to find a country that can act as a mediator in this situation. in this context He mentioned Türkiye, which had previously submitted a proposal in this regard.

– It is a shameful case, but on the other hand, how many victims will there be? Negotiate in advance, Look for a country to mediate. (…) The Pope said: Do not be ashamed to negotiate before things get worse.

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Reuters emphasized this Maybe for the first timeWhen Francis used terms like “white flag” and “defeated” in a discussion about the war in Ukraine, even though he has spoken in the past about the necessity of negotiations.

Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni has already explained the Pope's words. He explained that Franciszek picked up on the host's “white flag” term and intelligence and used it “to signal the cessation of hostilities and the truce achieved through courageous negotiations.”