Ukraine's Foreign Affairs Ministry summons representative of Vatican due to Pope's "white flag" statement

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine has summoned Visvaldas Kulbokas, Apostolic Nuncio to Ukraine due to Pope Francis’ recent controversial statements about the Russo-Ukrainian war.

Source: European Pravda

Details: Kulbokas was informed that "Ukraine was disappointed" with the Pope’s words about the "courage of the white flag" and negotiations with Russia, Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry reported.

The ministry added that such claims "normalise the might makes right mentality and encourage them [aggressors] to further violate the norms of international law".

Kyiv expects the Pope to "show the international community the necessity of immediate joining of forces to guarantee the victory of the good over the evil, as well as addressing the aggressor, not the victim".

Kulbokas was separately reminded about the Ukrainian Peace Formula and Kyiv’s desire to achieve a just peace based on the UN Statute principles.

In February, Pope Francis said in an interview that Ukraine should have what he called "the courage of the white flag" and negotiate an end to the war with Russia. A representative of the Vatican clarified that the Pope’s statement was not a call for Ukraine to surrender.  

The statement caused a stir and was met with a lot of criticism.

In response to Pope Francis’s statement, Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski said that the Pope should address Russian President Vladimir Putin and urge him to withdraw his occupation forces from Ukraine.

Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba responded to Pope Francis’s suggestion that Ukraine should have what he called the "courage of the white flag" and negotiate an end to the war with Russia. He stated that Ukraine’s flag is not white but a yellow and blue one.

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