The Pope also criticized “the savagery, the cruelty” of Russian troops during the conflict in Eastern Europe.
Pope Francis says war in Ukraine may have been “provoked”. The religious leader’s statement was made in an interview with a Jesuit magazine on May 19. However, the text was not released by the Vatican until Tuesday (June 14, 2022).
“But the danger is that we only see what is egregious and we don’t see the full drama that is unfolding behind this war that may have been somehow provoked or not prevented,” the pope said.
Without giving details, Pope Francis said he met with a head of state in Ukraine months before the start of the war. According to the Pope, this leader whom he did not mention by name expressed his concern about the movement of NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization).
According to the head of the Catholic Church, the government official said the military alliance was “barking at Russia’s doors. And they do not understand that the Russians are imperial and do not allow any foreign power to approach them.”
Nevertheless, the Pope also criticized Russia’s role in the conflict in Eastern Europe. The pope said he saw “cruelty” in the actions of Russian troops.
“I’m just against reducing complexity to the distinction between good and bad without thinking about roots and interests, which are very complex. While we see the ferocity, the cruelty of the Russian troops, we must not forget the problems to try to solve them,” the Pope said.
During the interview, Francis mentioned the exhortation he addressed to Patriarch Kiril, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church. The Pope told the Orthodox leader “that [eles] they were not civil servants [mas] shepherds of the people”.