Ukraine hits back at Pope Francis over 'white flag' remark urging peace talks with Russia

Ukraine and its allies have expressed mounting fury at Pope Francis’ suggestion that it should have the “courage” to negotiate an end to the war with Russia.

KYIV, Ukraine — Ukraine and its allies have expressed mounting fury at Pope Francis’ suggestion that it should have the “courage” to negotiate an end to the war with Russia.

Kyiv’s ambassador to the Vatican told NBC News on Monday that his country could not accept the pontiff’s logic — a hint of the intense backlash drawn by the comments, which are not the first by the pope to elicit anger from Kyiv, at a precarious moment for Ukraine on the battlefield and in the battle over public opinion.

“When you see that you are defeated and that things are not going well, you have to have the courage to negotiate,” Francis said in an interview with Swiss broadcaster RSI, which was recorded last month but partially aired on Saturday. He urged Ukraine to have what he called “the courage of the white flag.”

The response by outraged Ukrainians was immediate.

“Our flag is a yellow and blue one. This is the flag by which we live, die, and prevail. We shall never raise any other flags,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba wrote Sunday in a post on X.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/ukraine-pope-francis-white-flag-peace-talks-russia-war-rcna142713

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