The Pope’s remarks continue to create controversy. Saturday March 9, on a Swiss television channel, Francis called on Ukraine to “have the courage to raise the white flag” to put an end to the conflict. kyiv summoned the Vatican envoy.
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He was told that the Ukrainian authorities were “disappointed“by the words of the sovereign pontiff. But”disappointed” is probably not the most accurate adjective to describe all the anger of the Ukrainians who see in this declaration a call to capitulate to the aggressor.
After two years of war, Ukraine has no intention of recognizing its defeat and abandoning a fifth of its now annexed territory to Russia. “Our flag is not white, it is yellow and blue” said, Sunday March 10, the head of diplomacy, Dmytro Kuleba.
“Weapons rather than the white flag”
The representatives of Germany, the Netherlands and the European Union to the Holy See publicly display their disapproval, joined by the head of NATO who sums it all up in four words: “Surrender is not peace“.
“We must continue to strengthen Ukraineadds Jens Stoltenberg, to show President Putin that he won’t get what he wants on the battlefield“. In summary, Ukraine needs weapons, not a white flag.
A poorly understood pacifist position
Faced with the controversy, the Vatican explains itself. As of Saturday evening, a press release attempts to correct the situation. The words were misunderstood. Francis is not demanding the surrender of kyiv but negotiations to end hostilities – which is not quite the same thing.
What is true despite everything is that unlike Western capitals, the Pope refuses to unconditionally take sides with Ukraine, a position he considers dangerous. This does not mean that he defends Moscow, but he prefers to stick to a pacifist neutrality which puts the sacredness of life above all else.
Except that in the context where Western support appears increasingly fragile, kyiv was waiting for a strong signal. On social networks, disillusionment is reflected in a surge of satirical cartoons which draw parallels between today’s situation and the conciliatory position of the Vatican in the face of Nazi Germany, or which represent Francis as a puppet of Vladimir Putin.
The Kremlin approves
“It is quite understandable that (the pope) is in favor of negotiations“, reacted Kremlin spokesperson Dmitri Peskov, adding that Vladimir Putin was open to talks on
peace, but he was not heard.
Volodymyr Zelensky presented a ten-point peace plan at a G20 summit in November 2022. It provides in particular for the restoration of the territorial integrity of Ukraine and the total withdrawal of Russian troops. kyiv in fact refuses to negotiate until Russian troops have withdrawn. The Pope’s intervention will at least have had the merit of reminding us of this.