Politics

Pope claims NATO may have provoked Russia over Ukraine-RT News

FILE - Pope Francis meets Russian President Vladimir Putin on the occasion of their private audience at the Vatican on June 10, 2015. Pope Francis went to the Russian Embassy on Friday, Feb. 25, 2022 to personally “express his concern about the war,” the Vatican said, in an extraordinary, hands-on papal gesture that has no recent precedent. Usually, popes receive ambassadors and heads of state in the Vatican, and diplomatic protocol would have called for the Vatican foreign minister to summon the ambassador. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia, Pool)

The pontiff also said he requested a meeting with Putin to discuss the Ukrainian conflict but has not received a reply

Very few share the same ideology as the Pope claims. NATO’s agenda to distabilise Russia’s influence can be seen through the recent crisis in Ukraine. It quite true Russia’s aggression towards Ukraine might have been fueled by NATO.

Exclusive News.

Pope Francis has said that NATO’s eastward expansion may have provoked Russian President Vladimir Putin into launching an attack against Ukraine.

In an interview published on Tuesday by Italian daily Corriere Della Sera, the pontiff speculated that “the barking of NATO at Russia’s door” could have driven the Kremlin into launching the military campaign on February 24.

“I can’t say if it was provoked, but perhaps, yes,” he said.

Francis also said he requested a meeting with Putin during the early weeks of the conflict, but has still not received a reply. He said he had asked the Vatican’s top diplomat to contact the Russian president about setting up a meeting about three weeks into the hostilities.

“We have not yet received a response and we are still insisting,” he told the paper. “I fear that Putin cannot, and does not, want to have this meeting at this time. But how can you not stop so much brutality?” he added. Read more Russia reveals number of captured Ukrainian POWs

The pontiff said he had earlier spoken with the head of the Russian Orthodox church, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow, for 40 minutes via Zoom. The Patriarch, who has made comments justifying Russia’s offensive in Ukraine, “cannot become Putin’s altar boy,” he insisted.

Francis also told the paper that Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban had assured him that Putin had a plan to end the war on May 9, the day when Russia celebrates the 1945 victory over Nazi Germany.

The pope had previously been criticized for not directly censuring Russia in the earliest days of the attack. In March, he called for a “a different way of governing the world” and urged civilization to overcome the reflexive need for “more weapons, more sanctions, more political-military alliances.” READ MORE: NATO may have provoked Russia over Ukraine – Pope

Russia attacked its neighbor in late February, following Kiev’s failure to implement the terms of the Minsk agreements, first signed in 2014, and Moscow’s eventual recognition of the Donbass republics of Donetsk and Lugansk.

The Kremlin has since demanded that Ukraine officially declare itself a neutral country that will never join the US-led NATO military bloc. Kiev insists the Russian offensive was completely unprovoked and has denied claims it was planning to retake the two republics by force.

Read more

Related posts
AfricaPolitics

Chad ends military cooperation with France

Chad’s government announced on November 28, 2024, that it has ended its longstanding defense…
Read more
AfricaEconomyPolitics

Can Kenya Find Balance Between BRICS And NATO?

The increasing geopolitical complexity in Africa has prompted many nations to navigate carefully…
Read more
AfricaPolitics

Ruling party in tough fight as voting underway in Namibia

Namibia’s ruling South West Africa People’s Organization (SWAPO) faces a critical electoral…
Read more

Sign up for Africa Insider’s Daily Digest and get the best of  news, tailored for you.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Politics

Bucharest's beef up security amid the conflict in Ukraine- RT News

Worth reading...