Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has responded to the words of the head of the Catholic Church, Pope Francis.
On his Facebook page, Kuleba stressed that "the strongest is the one who takes the side of good in the struggle between good and evil, and does not try to put them on equal footing and call it 'negotiations'".
"Our flag is blue and yellow. This is the flag under which we live, die and win. We will never raise any other flags," the minister said.
Kuleba noted that as for the white flag, "we know the Vatican's strategy from the first half of the twentieth century". The minister called on the Holy See "not to repeat the mistakes of the past and to support Ukraine and its people in their just struggle for their lives". The foreign minister also invited the Pope to Ukraine.
"We thank His Holiness Pope Francis for his constant prayers for peace and continue to hope that after two years of devastating war in the heart of Europe, the Pontiff will find the opportunity to make an apostolic visit to Ukraine to support more than a million Ukrainian Catholics, more than 5 million Greek Catholics, all Christians and all Ukrainians."
Pope Francis and the "white flag"
Earlier, Pope Francis said that, in his words, Ukraine should have "the courage to raise the white flag" and negotiate an end to the war with Russia.
The country should have “the courage to raise the white flag” and negotiate an end to the war with Russia.