In comments reported by the Italian newspaper La Stampa on Tuesday, Pope Francis suggested that the Ukraine war was perhaps either provoked or not prevented.
The Pope stated that he is "not in favor" of Russian President Vladimir Putin but rather against simplifying complexity to a binary of good and bad, without considering origins and interests, which are quite complicated.
Pope Francis Calls Out Russian Cruelty in Ukraine
Pope Francis said he met with "a head of state" who was "very concerned about how NATO was moving" before Russia invaded Ukraine, and that he hopes to speak with Patriarch Kirill, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, later this year, after a meeting between the two was postponed due to the war in Ukraine.
In September, the Pope hopes to see the Russian Patriarch during a general gathering in Kazakhstan. A knee problem forced Pope Francis to postpone a trip to Africa, CNN reported. In a statement released by the Vatican on Tuesday, Pope Francis said the invasion of Ukraine "has now been added to the regional wars that have taken a terrible toll in death and damage for years."
"Yet here, the situation is even more complicated due to the direct intervention of a'superpower' aimed at imposing its own will in violation of the principle of peoples' self-determination," Pope Francis said in a message for the Roman Catholic Church's World Day of the Poor, which will be observed in November.
The invasion of Ukraine by Russia may have been "in some way provoked," according to Pope Francis, who stopped short of labeling Russian President Vladimir Putin as an aggressor. The pontiff applauded "brave" Ukrainians for struggling for survival in a conversation he had last month with editors of Jesuit media, which was released on Tuesday, but also stated the issue was not black and white.
Russia-Ukraine War Was Triggered, Says Pope Francis
Per Mirror, he went on to claim that the conflict was "perhaps triggered in some way." While denouncing "the brutality, the savagery of Russian forces," Pope Francis added, "we must not overlook the actual issues if we are to tackle them," citing the arms industry as one of the elements that encourage conflict.
It comes after Pope Francis revealed he had spoken with a head of state many months before Putin launched his soldiers into Ukraine, who voiced fear that NATO was "barking at the gates of Russia" in a situation that may lead to war.
"I am not pro-Putin, it would be simple and inappropriate to declare such a thing," he replied rhetorically. After contacting Ukrainian President Zelensky, he also revealed how he attempted to speak with Putin about ending the conflict.
In a late-night address Monday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that combat in the country's eastern Donbas area had become "one of the most terrible fights" in European history.
As Russia pursues "full control" in eastern and southern Ukraine, Kyiv has warned that its troops are losing between 100 and 200 soldiers every day, with hundreds more wounded. The most savage combat in Ukraine is taking place in Sievierodonetsk, a strategically significant city in the western Luhansk area.
Russian soldiers would be able to march west into the Donetsk area and maybe farther into Ukraine if the Luhansk region was fully occupied. Russia has been unable to fully control the city and has encountered difficulties crossing the Siverskyi Donets river, which divides it from western Ukraine.
In Donbas, Russian forces have used a heavy artillery bombardment and brought foot units to strike weak settlements around Sievierodonetsk. Ukraine claimed on Tuesday that its armed soldiers within Sievierodonetsk are preventing Russia from obtaining total control of the city, Fox News reported.
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