Ukraine responded sharply to Pope Francis on Sunday, vowing to “never” surrender to Russia, in reaction to an interview with the sovereign pontiff in which he asked it to have “the courage to raise the white flag and negotiate”. “Our flag is yellow and blue. This is the flag for which we live, we die and triumph. We will never raise other flags,” replied the head of Ukrainian diplomacy, Dmytro Kuleba, in a message on X (ex-Twitter).
“When it comes to the white flag, we know the strategy of the Vatican in the first part of the 20th century. I call on avoiding repeating the mistakes of the past and supporting Ukraine and its people in their fight for life”, he added, visibly in reference to the period of the Second World War. He nevertheless said he hoped that the sovereign pontiff “will find the opportunity to make a canonical visit to Ukraine”.
“The strongest are those who have the courage to raise the white flag and negotiate”
In an interview on public television RTS broadcast on Saturday, Pope Francis, asked about the situation in Ukraine, called for not being “ashamed to negotiate before things get worse.” “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.
The primate of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, which officially has more than 5 million members in Ukraine, also reacted, without clearly mentioning the pope. “Ukraine is wounded, but rebellious! (…) Believe me, no one has in their heads the idea of surrendering, even where the fighting is taking place today – listen to our people in the regions from Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Odessa, Kharkov, Sumy!” said Sviatoslav Shevchuk on Saturday during a mass in a church in New York where he was traveling.