Pope Francis, who'd originally intended to perhaps visit Kyiv, Ukraine, to broker a Russian-Ukrainian ceasefire, now says he'd like to go to Moscow in an effort to nudge the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, to end the war.
In an interview with Italian newspaper Corriere Della Sera that ran Tuesday, Francis said that “I feel that before going to Kyiv, I must go to Moscow.”
But beyond the logistics of which country to visit first and what stance to take with each government, Francis found fault with the West for its role in the ongoing conflict. He claimed a contributing factor was “NATO barking at Russia’s door.” NATO’s actions, Francis believes, are what caused the Kremlin to “react badly and unleash the conflict.”
“I can’t say if (Russia’s) anger was provoked,” he said, “but facilitated, maybe yes.”
Francis said arms shipments to Ukraine are keeping the conflict going. He has spoken to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, urging him not to fight back against the Russians.
Francis told the paper that “I don’t know how to answer—I’m too far away—the question of whether it is right to supply the Ukrainians. The clear thing is that weapons are being tested there. The Russians now know that tanks are of little use and are thinking of other things. This is why wars are waged: to test the weapons we have produced. Few people are fighting this trade, but more should be done.”
“In Ukraine, it seems that it was others who created the conflict," the pontiff said. "I am pessimistic but we must do everything possible to stop the war.”
He also told the paper that he was told in a state visit to Rome by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban that “the Russians have a plan, that everything will end on May 9,” the day Russia celebrates its liberation and its defeat of the Nazis in World War II.
Francis said he's asked his secretary of state to start the process of organizing a visit to Moscow instead of Ukraine, however Putin has not responded.
He acknowledged that the chances of a meeting with Putin are slim, saying “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?”
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