NATO rejects Pope Francis’ call for negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, while Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg is against Ukraine’s “capitulation,” the German news site NTV reports.
Earlier, in his interview with a Swiss news wire, Pope Francis called on Ukraine to have the “courage to negotiate” and raise “the white flag” and claimed that “Negotiating is never a surrender. It is the courage not to lead the country to suicide,” implying, that Russia is going to win in Ukraine and Ukraine should capitulate as soon as possible.
“Capitulation is not peace,” said Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, without mentioning Pope Francis by name.
Stoltenberg went on to say:
“President Putin started this war and he could end it today. Ukraine, on the other hand, does not have this option.”
The NATO Secretary General called on all allies to continue to support Ukraine militarily.
Earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy rejected Pope Francis’ suggestion that Ukraine should raise the “white flag” and negotiate an end to Russia’s invasion, saying:
“Russian murderers and torture chambers are not in Europe only because they are being held back by Ukrainians under the blue and yellow flag,” said Zelenskyy.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has stated that Kyiv will not raise any flag other than its national one:
“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.
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