In an indication of how angered Kyiv was, Ukrainian officers in contrast the assertion to a number of the Catholic church collaborating with Nazi Germany in World Battle II.
“On the identical time, with regards to the white flag, we all know this Vatican technique from the primary half of the twentieth century,” Kuleba mentioned, calling on the Holy See to “keep away from repeating the errors of the previous”.
Ukraine’s ambassador to the Vatican, Andrii Yurash, went additional by evaluating the Pope’s negotiation suggestion to speaking to Adolf Hitler:
“(The) lesson is just one, if we wish to end battle, we’ve got to do every little thing to kill (the) Dragon!” he mentioned on social media.
After the interview was aired, Francis provided recent prayers for “martyred Ukraine”, as Vatican officers mentioned his name was merely meant to finish fierce preventing.
On Saturday night, the Vatican issued an announcement insisting the pope’s use of the phrase “white flag”, a extensively used signal of give up on the battlefield, was meant to imply “a cessation of hostilities, a truce reached with the braveness of negotiation”.
However the pontiff’s phrases have been extensively understood as a name for give up and slammed by some Western diplomats.
“Russia is the aggressor and breaks worldwide regulation! Subsequently Germany asks Moscow to cease the battle, not Kyiv!”, mentioned Bernhard Kotsch, Germany’s envoy to the Vatican.
