Pope Francis has said he is open to meeting with Russian and Ukrainian Presidents Vladimir Putin and Vladimir Zelensky to discuss ending the war. The pontiff said this on Sunday to Corriere della Sera.
Previously, Francis has repeatedly expressed his readiness to become a mediator in negotiations between Moscow and Kyiv, as well as the hope for peace in Ukraine.
On the very first day of the Russian invasion – February 24 – Francis spoke by phone with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, and instead of calling Vladimir Putin, he personally visited the Russian ambassador to convey to him a request to stop hostilities. He then conveyed a message to Putin that he was ready to come to Moscow to meet with him, but Russia ignored this request.
He later explained that he did not go to Kyiv only because he did not have the opportunity to make the same visit to Moscow.
On March 16, a telephone conversation took place between Patriarch Kirill and Pope Francis. According to Francis, Cyril read out information about geopolitics and the flight time of NATO missiles from a piece of paper for a long time. The Pope advised the Patriarch to remember that he is not an official, not “Putin’s altar servant”, and to speak the language of faith and Jesus appropriate for a priest.
At the Vatican in late October, French President Emmanuel Macron asked Pope Francis to call Russian President Vladimir Putin, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and US President Joe Biden to try to stop the war in Ukraine.
Later, in an interview with the Jesuit magazine America, the pontiff responded to accusations that he did not directly name the perpetrators of the war, limiting himself to calls for peace to both sides of the conflict.
According to Francis, when commenting on the war in Ukraine, he does not mention Russian President Vladimir Putin, because the politician’s role is “already known.” “Everyone knows my position, with or without Putin,” Francis said. “Unacceptable armed aggression and slaughter must be stopped,” said the head of the Roman Catholic Church.
