Pope Francis says NATO, ‘barking at Russia’s door,’ shares blame for Ukraine

VATICAN CITY (RNS) — Pope Francis told an Italian newspaper on Tuesday (May 3) that NATO may be partly to blame for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and he said he hopes to visit Moscow to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in hopes of brokering a peace.

Talking to reporters from Il Corriere della Sera, Francis said that “NATO barking at Russia’s doors” may have raised alarms in the Kremlin about the Western European alliance’s intentions in Ukraine. “I can’t say if (Russia’s) anger was provoked,” he continued, “but facilitated, maybe yes.”

In the interview, Francis again recalled his first reaction to the news of the invasion in late February. On the first day of war, he said, he called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and then left his apartment on an impromptu visit to Aleksandr Avdeyev, Russia’s ambassador to the Holy See. “I wanted to make a clear gesture for the whole world to see and for this reason I went to the Russian ambassador,” the pope said.


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