In comments on Twitter/X, Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba rejected a call from Pope Francis that Ukraine should "have the courage to negotiate."
The strongest is the one who, in the battle between good and evil, stands on the side of good rather than attempting to put them on the same footing and call it “negotiations”.
— Dmytro Kuleba (@DmytroKuleba) March 10, 2024
At the same time, when it comes to the white flag, we know this Vatican's strategy from the first half…
Minister Kuleba said in part:
The strongest is the one who, in the battle between good and evil, stands on the side of good rather than attempting to put them on the same footing and call it “negotiations”.
At the same time, when it comes to the white flag, we know this Vatican's strategy from the first half of the twentieth century. I urge to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past and to support Ukraine and its people in their just struggle for their lives.
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.
The Pope, in an interview with Swiss broadcaster RSI, had encouraged Ukraine to negotiate terms for an end to Russia's invasion.
Pope Francis has 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 that followed Moscow's full-scale invasion two years ago and that has killed tens of thousands.
Francis made his comments in an interview recorded last month with Swiss broadcaster RSI, well before Friday's latest offer by Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan to host a summit between Ukraine and Russia to end the war.
Negotiations with a power with armed troops on part of one's territory rarely end well for the invaded nation; that's not exactly negotiating from a position of strength.
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Whatever one thinks of the Russia/Ukraine conflict and the enormous amounts of money the United States is pouring into it, negotiations don't seem like the wisest course for Ukraine at the moment.
Foreign Minister Kuleba also took a shot at the Vatican's history in the Second World War, pointing out Pope Pius's inaction after learning of the Nazi's "final solution to the Jewish question."
"At the same time, when it comes to the white flag, we know this Vatican's strategy from the first half of the twentieth century," he wrote.
"I urge (the Vatican) to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past and to support Ukraine and its people in their just struggle for their lives."
That was a reference to longstanding arguments that Pius took no action despite evidence that emerged during the war of the extent of the Holocaust. A letter made public last year from the Vatican archives appeared to show that Pius was made aware of details of Nazi actions to exterminate Jews as early as 1942.
Ukraine's peace plan is contingent on the withdrawal of all Russian forces from Ukrainian territory. While President Zelensky is, understandably, adamant about this condition, to date, Ukraine has held Russia in place but has been unable to push Russian forces back.
Granted, Pope Francis is doing his job as he sees it; the Church, one would think, would take the side of peace. But Ukraine's reaction is also understandable; from the Ukranian point of view, this would be akin to Pope Pius, in 1940, counseling France to "negotiate."
Ukraine's response to the Pope makes it certain that this conflict will continue, even as a high-tech version of the Great War, a battle of attrition that will see a victory by the last side to have one man standing.
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