Ukrainian leadership rejects Pope's call for peace talks

MOSCOW. March 11 (Interfax) - The Ukrainian leadership rejects Pope Francis's suggestion that Ukraine might raise "the white flag" and enter into negotiations with Russia.

"Our flag is a yellow and blue one [...] We shall never raise any other flags," Ukrainian media quoted Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba as saying on his social account.

In an interview with the Swiss broadcaster RSI in February, an excerpt of which was published last Saturday, Pope Francis said, in particular, that, in his view, "the strongest one is the one who looks at the situation, thinks about the people and has the courage of the white flag, and negotiates."

"We thank His Holiness Pope Francis for his constant prayers for peace, and we continue to hope that [...] the Pontiff will find an opportunity to pay an Apostolic visit to Ukraine to support over a million Ukrainian Catholics, over five million Greek-Catholics, all Christians, and all Ukrainians," Kuleba said in his post.

As Ukrainian media have reported, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky also indirectly criticized the Pope for his remarks by saying that the Church's role is what Ukrainian chaplains are doing in the Ukrainian Armed Forces. "This is what the Church with the people is about, rather than some virtual mediation some 2,500 kilometers away," the media quoted Zelensky as saying.