Pope Francis condemns Russia’s “brutality” in a war that “could have been provoked”

The Pope Francisco condemned on Tuesday the “brutality” of the troops of Russia in front of a “brave” Ukrainian people, while stating that the war “could have been provoked”.

In an interview given to European Jesuit magazines last month and published Tuesday by the Italian magazine La Civilta Cattolica, the Pontiff refused to “reduce” the current conflict to “a distinction between good guys and bad guys.”

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“What we see is the brutality and ferocity with which this war is being waged by the troops, usually mercenaries, used by the Russians. The Russians prefer to send Chechens, Syrians, mercenaries”, lament Franciscowhich has made repeated calls for peace since the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24.

“But the danger is that we only see that, which is monstrous, without seeing all the drama that is played out behind this war, which may have been, in some way, provoked or not prevented,” he nuanced before condemning the arms industry.

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“At this point, some will say to me: ‘But you are pro-Putin’. No, I’m not. It would be simplistic and wrong to say such a thing.”, added the Catholic spiritual leader, who considers it necessary to “reason about the roots and interests” of this conflict “which are very complex”.

“It is also true that the Russians thought that everything would be over in a week. But they made a miscalculation. They found a brave people, a people that struggles to survive and that has a history of struggle”He said dad 85-year-old Argentine.

On May 3, in an interview with the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, Francisco he spoke of the Kremlin’s “anger” being caused by “NATO barking at Russia’s door”.

Source: Elcomercio

Ronald Payne

I, Ronald Payne, am a journalist and author who dedicated his life to telling the stories that need to be said. I have over 7 years of experience as a reporter and editor, covering everything from politics to business to crime.