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

According to the report of the international group Tasnim news agency quoting “Spiegel” weekly newspaper, while many Western countries are trying to support Ukraine against Russia’s war, Pope Francis, the leader of the Catholic world, has made a different proposal. According to Pope Francis, Ukraine must have the courage to raise the “white flag” and negotiate to end the war with Russia.

Pope Francis in an interview with the network Switzerland’s RSI TV said he thinks “the strongest person is the one who looks at the situation, thinks about the people, has the courage to raise the white flag and negotiate.”

According to the information of this newspaper, this conversation was held in February, but it will be broadcast for the first time on March 20. Francis said: “When you see that you have failed, things are not going well, you have to have the courage to negotiate.” When Francis was asked whether he stood with those who wanted Ukraine to surrender because it had failed to retaliate against Russia, or with those who said it should surrender and legitimize the actions of the stronger side, the pope adopted a position.

Francis raised the question of how many casualties there will be at the end of the war and said that the powers should be present in the discussions and negotiations. International and there should be a mediator. “Don’t be ashamed to negotiate before things get worse,” the pope said. In another part of this interview, which deals with the war between Israel and Hamas, he said: “Negotiation is never surrender.” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has repeatedly said that he wants peace. Is. However, he demands the withdrawal of Russian forces from all of Ukraine and the restoration of Ukraine’s state borders. Russia has rejected peace talks with the terms set by Kiev. In this situation, Turkey was negotiating to host a meeting between Ukraine and Russia on Friday.

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