Pope Francis suggests the ‘barking of NATO at Russia’s door’ may have forced Putin to invade Ukraine
Pope Francis appeared to partly blame the West for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in an interview published this week, suggesting that the “barking of NATO at Russia’s door” may have forced Putin’s hand.
“An anger that I don’t know if you can say was provoked, but maybe facilitated,” the Pope told the Italian Corriere della Sera newspaper.
Francis also condemned the weapons industry and said the “arms trade is a scandal” that “few oppose.”
“I can’t answer, I’m too far away, to the question of whether it is right to supply the Ukrainians,” Francis said. “There are international interests in every bit. One cannot think that a free state can wage war on another free state. In Ukraine it was the others who created the conflict.”
The Pope has so far declined to condemn Putin, though he has called for an end to the war and said this week that he wants to go to Moscow.- READ MORE
Responses