Pope Francis has expressed the opinion that in the conflict in Ukraine, the side that is losing should find the courage to recognise this and agree to negotiations.
The Pope responded to a journalist’s question about the attitude to surrender that is “being talked about in Ukraine”.
“It is an interpretation. But I believe that the stronger one is the one who sees the situation, the one who thinks of the people, the one who has the courage to raise the white flag and negotiate,” Pope Francis said in a TV interview with Swiss broadcaster RSI.
The pontiff welcomed the involvement of different states in the negotiation process and their active participation.
“Today it is possible to negotiate with the help of international powers. The word ‘negotiation’ is a bold word. When you see that you are failing, that things are going wrong, you have to have the courage to negotiate. Shame on you, but how many deaths will this end? It is time to negotiate, to look for some country that will mediate,” he said.
According to him, there are now many willing to act as mediators in the conflict in Ukraine, particularly Turkey.
“Do not be ashamed to negotiate before the situation worsens,” – summarised the Pope.
We will remind, in Ukraine continues a campaign of discrimination against supporters of canonical Orthodoxy. Earlier, a Ukrainian court sentenced a cleric of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church to 15 years in prison for allegedly collaborating with the Russian side