Pope want to meet Putin over Ukraine in Moscow

Pope want to meet Putin over Ukraine in Moscow.

In an interview released on Tuesday, Pope Francis said he had requested a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow to end the conflict in Ukraine but had not gotten a response.

The pope also told Italy’s Corriere Della Sera daily that Russian Orthodox Church Patriarch Kirill, who has backed the war wholeheartedly, “cannot become Putin’s altar boy.”

Francis, who paid an unprecedented visit to the Russian embassy when the war broke out, told the newspaper that he urged the Vatican’s top diplomat to send a message to Putin around three weeks into the fight.

MORE: Scholz says Putin Won’t Attack Other Countries.

The message was clear “I was willing to travel to Moscow. Allowing an opening was undoubtedly vital for the Kremlin boss. We have yet to receive an answer, but we remain adamant “.

“Putin, I fear, is unable and unwilling to hold this meeting at this moment. But how can you allow such savagery to continue? We went through the same thing in Rwanda twenty-five years ago,” He was reported as saying, seemingly equating the atrocities in Ukraine to the 1994 genocide in Rwanda.

Before the conversation, Francis, 85, had not publicly referenced Russia or Putin since the war began on February 24. 

However, he has made it clear who he is criticizing, using languages like unjustified aggression and invasion and condemning atrocities against people.

When asked about a trip to Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital, which Francis mentioned last month as a possibility, the pope stated he would not go at this time.

“First, I have to travel to Moscow and meet with Putin… I do what I can. If Putin would just open a door, the world would be a better place, “he stated

The conflict in Ukraine has strained relations between the Vatican and the Russian Orthodox Church, causing a schism among Orthodox Christians worldwide.

According to Reuters, the Vatican is considering extending the pope’s trip to Lebanon, which is scheduled for June 12-13, by one day so that he can meet with Kirill on June 14 in Jerusalem. On the other hand, find out more Francis later decided against it.

Francis stated in the interview that during a 40-minute video call with Kirill on March 16, the patriarch spent half of the time reading from a sheet of paper “with all the justifications for the war.”

Moscow calls its operation in Ukraine a “special operation” aimed at demilitarizing and “denazifying” its neighbor. Kirill, 75, sees the battle as a bulwark against a corrupt West, particularly regarding homosexuality acceptance.

“We (the pope and Kirill) are pastors of God’s people. That is why we must pursue peaceful paths and end the use of armaments. Putin’s altar boy cannot be the patriarch, “According to reports, Francis said.

The pope also added that when he met Viktor Orban on April 21, he was told by the Hungarian prime minister that “the Russians have a plan, and everything will conclude on May 9,” referring to the anniversary of Russia’s freedom after WWII.