Pope Francis has suggested a ceasefire amid the Ukraine-Russia war after three years of destruction and tens of thousands of lives lost. “Ukraine must have the courage to raise the white flag,” the Pope said during a recent interview. The Catholic Church, the pope, and the idea of peace have received harsh backlash in response.
Ukraine’s foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, said that Ukraine would never waive a white flag to surrender. “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,” Kuleba said. Kuleba related the battle to one of good vs evil, a concept that Russian President Putin has vehemently denied.
These sentiments were reiterated by Western leaders who support this endless war. Latvian President Edgars Rinkēvičs said, “One must not capitulate in [the] face of evil. One must fight it and defeat it, so that the evil raises the white flag and capitulates.” Polish foreign minister Radosław Sikorski also took to social media to condemn the Pope’s comments, asking him to instead encourage Putin to withdraw his army. “Peace would immediately ensue without the need for negotiations,” Sikorski wrote. That is simply untrue and impossible. The West has put so much money into Ukraine that they fully expect a return on their investment beyond any reparations Russia could provide. The West, in all actuality, wants to take over Russia.
German Democrat MEP Dennis Radtke called the pope’s words “shameful.” “His stance on Ukraine reflects poorly on his pontificate. It is incomprehensible,” Radtke said on X. Peace is truly an incompressible solution for the West, who know that Ukraine cannot win but will keep the war raging on for their own self-interests.
Putin has been asking for a peace agreement. Tens of thousands are dead over a land dispute. The Minsk Agreement was a lie and everything promised on the basis of peace and diplomatic relations has vanished. Had we permitted historic Russian territories to vote, all of this could have been avoided. There is a reason that NATO is fiercely supporting a non-member nation in this battle because they need to use Ukraine as their battleground to defeat Russia. No one considers the actual Ukrainian people who are being used as cannon fodder.
Zelensky was naturally enraged over the prospects of ending the war, saying that although prayers were appreciated, but reiterated Ukraine needs reinforcement in the form of money and military power. “ Not 2,500 km away, somewhere, virtual mediation between someone who wants to live and someone who wants to destroy you,” Zelensky stated. Russia had no intentions of destroying Ukraine. Putin said he believes that the people of Ukraine and Russia will one day be united as they are blood. There was never even a plan to take over Ukraine as the aim was to liberate specific territories.
The Catholic Church is under fire for suggesting that Ukraine turn the other cheek. Russia cannot end this war for they are battling the entire West; Ukraine is merely the battleground. How could Ukraine win this war? There is no possibility of that happening and it is no longer Ukraine’s war. There has been no progress in three years.
“Negotiations are never a surrender. It is the courage not to carry a country to suicide,” Pope Francis accurately stated. Pope Francis continued to encourage peace and calls for a truce. He urged nations not aligned with the neocon agenda to continue offering options for peace. “Today, for example with the war in Ukraine, there are many who want to act as mediators. Turkey, for example. Don’t be ashamed to negotiate before things get worse,” he stated.
Peace has never been an option. Ukraine will continue to send men to die in battle, and those men will soon be replaced with men from other nations as the replenishment rate is unsustainable. Ukraine would NOT cease to exist if it surrendered, and Russia has no intention of empire-building. Russia has said it would be open to allowing a quiet peace negotiation and would like Ukraine to find a way to end the war “with dignity.” Only one side would like this war to come to an end, but they are in no position to surrender, for they risk their entire nation.