President Zelenskiy hits back at Pope, saying Ukraine should ‘raise the white flag’ and end war with Russia
president of ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyon Sunday dismissed Pope Francis’ call for dialogue with Russia as “de facto mediation” from afar.
In an interview broadcast on Swiss television on Saturday (which the Vatican said took place in February), the Pope urged the parties to Russia’s war against Ukraine to have the “courage to negotiate” and “to resolve the situation.” He urged people to do so before it gets worse.
The 87-year-old pope was asked by RTS about the debate within Ukraine over whether Ukraine should surrender to Russian aggression.
“I believe that the strongest person is the one who looks at the situation, thinks about the people, and has the courage to raise the white flag and negotiate,” he said.
“The word negotiation is a courageous word. When you know you are defeated and things are not going well, you have to have the courage to negotiate.”
In his nightly video address, Zelensky did not directly mention Francis or his remarks, but said the pope’s thoughts had nothing to do with efforts by Ukrainian religious figures to help Ukraine.
“They support us with prayer, discussion and action. This is truly a church with people,” Zelenskiy said. “Somewhere less than 1,500 miles away, a virtual mediation is taking place between those who want to live and those who want to destroy you.”
A Vatican spokesperson later said the pope was talking about stopping the fighting through negotiations rather than surrender.
The Kremlin seized on the Pope’s remarks, with Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova saying: “In my view, the Pope is asking the West to put aside its ambitions and admit that it was wrong. ” he said.
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In an interview broadcast on Saturday by Swiss television, but which the Vatican said was conducted in February, the pontiff urged parties in Russia’s war against Ukraine to “have the courage to negotiate”, and do so “before things get worse”.
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The 87-year-old pope was asked by RTS about a debate within Ukraine on whether to surrender to Russia’s invasion.
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“I believe that the strongest are those who see the situation, think about the people, and have the courage to raise the white flag and negotiate,” he said.
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“That word negotiate is a brave word. When you see that you are defeated, that things are not working out, you have to have the courage to negotiate.”
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In his nightly video address, Zelensky did not directly mention Francis or his remarks, but said the pope’s thoughts had nothing to do with efforts by Ukrainian religious figures to help Ukraine.
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“They support us with prayer, discussion and action. This is truly a church with people,” Zelenskiy said. “Somewhere less than 1,500 miles away, a virtual mediation is taking place between those who want to live and those who want to destroy you.”
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A Vatican spokesperson later said the pope was talking about stopping the fighting through negotiations rather than surrender.
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The Kremlin seized on the Pope’s remarks, with Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova saying: “In my view, the Pope is asking the West to put aside its ambitions and admit that it was wrong. ” he said.
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Hello and welcome to the Guardian’s live coverage of the war in Ukraine.
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The Ukrainian government has responded angrily and vowed never to surrender after Pope Francis said the country should have “the courage to raise the white flag” and negotiate an end to the war with Russia.
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Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said the pontiff was engaging in “virtual mediation”. Zelenskiy made no direct reference to Francis or his comments but mentioned religious figures helping inside Ukraine.
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“They support us with prayer, with their discussion and with deeds. This is indeed what a church with the people is,” Zelenskiy said in his nightly video address. “Not 2,500 km away, somewhere, virtual mediation between someone who wants to live and someone who wants to destroy you.”
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Ukraine’s foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, took a more direct approach – writing on social media on Sunday: “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.”
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We will bring you more on this shortly. In other key developments:
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European states imported almost double the amount of arms in 2019 to 2023 compared to 2014 to 2018, according to the thinktank, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. Ukraine emerged as the largest European arms importer after the full-scale invasion by Russia in February 2022. Ukraine was the fourth largest importer in the world between 2019 and 2023, after at least 30 states supplied military aid to Ukraine from February 2022.
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The defence forces of southern Ukraine wrote on Telegram that Russia launched a massive drone attack against the city of Odesa overnight, damaging an infrastructure facility and administrative buildings. No casualties were reported.
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Ukraine said Russian shelling in the east had killed three people on Sunday. A strike on a residential building in the eastern town of Myrnograd injured a dozen more people, Kyiv officials said. Ukraine also said Moscow launched missile attacks on the north-eastern Kharkiv region and sent attack drones across the centre and south of the country.
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The Ukrainian film 20 Days in Mariupol, which was shot inside the besieged port city during the assault by Russian forces, has won the best documentary Oscar at the Academy Awards in Los Angeles.
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A visit by France’s president, Emmanuel Macron, to Ukraine to visit Volodymyr Zelenskiy has been postponed, the third time a planned trip to the country has been pushed back since February. “The two heads of state agreed to remain in close contact, notably regarding the president’s visit to Ukraine, which should happen in the coming weeks,” the French presidency said after the two leaders spoke by phone earlier on Sunday.
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important events
Minister of Defense of Italy, Guido CrossetItalian newspaper La Stampa reported that he opposed the idea of sending Western troops to Ukraine, saying it would hinder diplomacy.
last month, Emmanuel Macron He faced criticism from France’s NATO and EU partners and threats of conflict from Russia after suggesting he might need to send ground troops to Ukraine.
A cryptocurrency company was revealed to have transferred more than $4.2 million worth of digital assets to the cryptocurrency wallets of members of an alleged Russian arms-trafficking network that was later sanctioned by the United States.
Details of the transactions involving Copper Technologies are emerging rapidly as UK laws governing cryptocurrencies catch up with a rapidly evolving sector that has come under increasing scrutiny for the level of anonymity it can provide. This raises the question of whether or not they are adapting.
An analysis of cryptocurrency records by The Guardian and the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) reveals that one of the most well-known cryptocurrency companies and Jonathan ZimenkovIsraeli-born Russian national.
Zimenkov, 29, US sanctions He was indicted in February 2023 on suspicion of supporting the Russian military’s invasion of Ukraine as part of the Zimenkov Network, an arms-trafficking and sanctions-evasion network led by his father, Igor Zimenkov.
You can read the full article by my colleague Rob Davies. and Matej Roska, here:
leaders of Japan and America According to the Japanese news agency Yomiuri, a meeting is scheduled for April 10 in Washington, D.C., to “strengthen the joint production system” of defense equipment for more arms shipments to Ukraine.
Japan amended the law in December 2023 to allow the return of certain weapons to their countries of origin, paving the way for Japan to replenish U.S. inventories as Washington supplies weapons to Ukraine.
The American president is joe bidenand the Prime Minister of Japan, Fumio Kishida, will meet in Washington on April 10th. According to Yomiuri, the main theme of the summit is strengthening defense industrial cooperation between the two countries.
US defense industry struggles to produce enough artillery shells There are also air defense systems supporting Ukraine’s fight against full-scale Russian aggression. Japan has already begun assisting in the recovery of U.S. supplies by transferring weapons under the revised law.
Japan agreed in December to send Patriot surface-to-air missiles to the United States, allowing Washington to continue supplying Kiev with much-needed air defense systems.
President Zelenskiy hits back at Pope, saying Ukraine should ‘raise the white flag’ and end war with Russia
president of ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyon Sunday dismissed Pope Francis’ call for dialogue with Russia as “de facto mediation” from afar.
In an interview broadcast on Swiss television on Saturday (which the Vatican said took place in February), the Pope urged the parties to Russia’s war against Ukraine to have the “courage to negotiate” and “to resolve the situation.” He urged people to do so before it gets worse.
The 87-year-old pope was asked by RTS about the debate within Ukraine over whether to surrender to Russian aggression.
“I believe that the strongest person is the one who looks at the situation, thinks about the people, and has the courage to raise the white flag and negotiate,” he said.
“The word negotiation is a courageous word. When you know you are defeated and things are not going well, you have to have the courage to negotiate.”
In his nightly video address, Zelensky did not directly mention Francis or his remarks, but said the pope’s thoughts had nothing to do with efforts by Ukrainian religious figures to help Ukraine.
“They support us with prayer, discussion and action. This is truly a church with people,” Zelenskiy said. “Somewhere less than 1,500 miles away, a virtual mediation is taking place between those who want to live and those who want to destroy you.”
A Vatican spokesperson later said the pope was talking about stopping the fighting through negotiations rather than surrender.
The Kremlin seized on the Pope’s remarks, with Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova saying: “In my view, the Pope is asking the West to put aside its ambitions and admit that it was wrong. ” he said.
Opening overview
Hello. Welcome to the Guardian’s live coverage of the Ukraine war.
Ukraine’s government reacted angrily and vowed never to surrender after Pope Francis said Ukraine should have the “courage to raise the white flag” and negotiate an end to the war with Russia.
president of ukraine, Volodymyr ZelenskyThe Pope said he was conducting “de facto mediation.” Zelenskiy did not directly address Francis or his comments, but he did mention religious figures he supports in Ukraine.
“They support us with prayer, discussion and action. This is truly a church with people,” Zelenskyy said in a video address tonight. “Somewhere less than 1,500 miles away, a virtual mediation is taking place between those who want to live and those who want to destroy you.”
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Dmytro Klebatook a more direct approach, writing on social media on Sunday: “Our flag is yellow and blue. This is the flag by which we live, die, and win. We will never fly any other flag.”
More on this later. Other important developments include:
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European countries import almost twice as much amount of weapons According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, a think tank, there was a decline from 2019 to 2023 compared to 2014 to 2018. After Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, Ukraine emerged as Europe’s largest arms importer. Ukraine became the world’s fourth largest arms importer from 2019 to 2023 after at least 30 countries provided military aid to Ukraine starting in February 2022.
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The Defense Forces of southern Ukraine wrote in a cable that Russia had launched a large-scale drone attack on cities in southern Ukraine. Odesa Overnight, infrastructure facilities and administrative buildings were damaged. No casualties were reported.
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Ukraine said on Sunday that three people were killed in shelling in eastern Russia. Strikes against residential buildings in eastern towns. Mirnograd Kiev officials said more than a dozen people were injured.Ukraine also announced that Russia launched missile attacks in the northeast kharkiv It attacked the region and sent attack drones into the central and southern parts of the country.
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The Ukrainian film “20 Days in Mariupol,” shot inside the besieged port city during a Russian offensive, has won the Best Documentary Award at the Academy Awards in Los Angeles.
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French President’s visit Emmanuel Macron, his trip to Ukraine to visit Volodymyr Zelensky has been postponed, making it the third time since February that a scheduled trip to the country has been postponed. “The two leaders agreed to maintain close contact, especially regarding the president’s planned visit to Ukraine in the coming weeks,” the French presidential palace said in a statement after the two leaders spoke by phone on Sunday.
