Pope Francis asks Zelensky for “courage” to raise the “white flag” and negotiate an end to the war with Russia

Pope Francis shakes hands with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the Vatican on May 13, 2023 (Reuters)

He Pope Francisco Urged the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr ZelenskyHaving the “courage” to hoist the “white flag” and negotiate an end to the war with Russia.

“It is stronger that he looks at the situation, Who thinks about people, who has the courage to negotiate, like a white flag. Today you can negotiate with the help of international powers. The word dialogue is brave,” the Supreme Pontiff declared in a recorded interview with a Swiss radio station last month. RSIThat comes ahead of Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan’s latest offer on Friday to host a summit between Ukraine and Russia to end the war.

“When you see that you have lost, things are not going well, you must have the courage to negotiate. You’re embarrassed, but how many deaths will this end up in? Negotiate in time, look for some countries that mediate. In the Ukrainian war, there are many. Turkiye has offered. And others. “Don’t be shy to negotiate before it gets even worse,” Francisco said in a report that aired on March 20, but some Italian media have already carried excerpts.

The Pope also responded to a question about whether he had offered negotiations in the conflicts in Ukraine and the Gaza Strip: “I am here, period. I have sent a letter to the Jews of Israel asking them to consider this situation. To negotiate is to never give up. This is the price of not leading the country towards suicide. Ukrainians, according to their history, are in bad conditions, how much Ukrainians suffered during Stalin’s time…”

Russian President Vladimir Putin meets Pope Francis at the Vatican on July 4, 2019 (Reuters)

Pope Francis condemned that “the arms industry is” behind the wars and said: “It is a collective sin.”

“A month ago, the Treasurer told me how things were in the Vatican, always in losses, do you know where the higher income-yielding investments are today? Arms factories. You win by killing. More income: Arms factories. A terrible war,” he said.

Furthermore, he recalled that he cried in front of the World War I memorial when he visited Redipuglia (Italy) in 2014. “Then the same thing happened to me in Anzio, so every November 2 I go to the cemetery to celebrate. Last time I went to a British cemetery and looked at the ages of the boys. I’ve said it before, but I’ll repeat it: ‘When the Normandy landings were celebrated, all the heads of government celebrated that date, but no one said that there were 20,000 boys left on that beach,” They said.

“War is madness, it is madness”He concluded.

The Pope welcomes Israel’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, at a private audience at the Vatican on December 2, 2013 (Reuters)

Similarly, he asked them how the political leaders who welcomed them at the Apostolic Palace react when they call for peace: “There are people who say, it is true but you have to defend yourself… and Then you find out they have airplanes and bomb factories. For others. Defend yourself, not destroy. How does a war end? With death, destruction, children without parents. There’s always some geographical or There are historical circumstances that provoke war… It may be a war that appears only for practical reasons. But “Behind the war is the arms industry, and that means money.”

The Pope also said Every day at seven in the evening he calls the parish priest of the Holy Family of Gaza, Argentine priest Gabriel Romanelli. “Six hundred people live there and tell what they see: This is a war. And war is fought by two people, not by one. These two are irresponsible who wage war. Then there is not only military war, there is also ‘guerrilla war’, Suppose, of Hamas, a movement that is not an army. this is something badFrancisco reflected.

Likewise, he urged not to lose hope: “Let’s look at history, all the wars we have experienced have ended in compromise.”

(With information from Europapress)

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