Rome: Pope Francis has made a new series of blows to Russia for his actions in Ukraine, while saying that the situation was not in black and white and that the war was “perhaps provoked in some way”.
The comments were part of a conversation he held last month with Jesuit media editors published on Tuesday.
He said Russia’s troops were brutal, cruel and ferocious, and that their use of mercenaries, including Chechens and Syrians, in Ukraine was “monstrous.”
Pope Francis last month. Credit: AP
While condemning “the ferocity, the cruelty of the Russian troops, we must not forget the real problems if we want them to be solved,” Francis said, including the arms industry among the factors encouraging the war.
Francis also praised the Ukrainians for fighting for survival.
“It is also true that the Russians thought it would all be over in a week. But they miscalculated. They came across a brave people, a people who are struggling to survive and have a history of struggle,” he said.
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Francis said that a few months before President Vladimir Putin sent his forces to Ukraine, the pontiff had met with a head of state who expressed concern that NATO was “barking at Russia’s gates.” in a way that could lead to war.
Francesc then said in his own words, “We do not see all the drama unfolding behind this war, which may have been somehow provoked or prevented.”