Ukraine Not To Raise the White Flag to Negotiate With Russia

March 11, 2024 Hour: 9:49 am

On Sunday, Ukrainian Foreign Affairs Minister Dmytro Kuleba implied that his country will never surrender to Russia nor take the first step to start a peace negotiation process.

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His statements come in response to a recent peace proposal from Pope Francis, who asked Ukraine to raise “the white flag” and begin a peace negotiation process.

“Our flag is a yellow and blue one. This is the flag by which we live, die, and prevail. We shall never raise any other flags,” Kuleba said, hinting that the Vatican proposal is just a confusion strategy similar to those used during the Second World War.

“I call on people to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past and support Ukraine and its people in their fight for life,” the Ukrainian diplomat said.

��#Russia #Россия #Lavrov #Лавров: The West made a mistake in #Ukraine! Lavrov::(ENGLISH VOICED): : It was amazing to see the speed with which #Finland and #Sweden were joining #NATO.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov spoke at a special session of the Antalya Diplomatic… pic.twitter.com/6fO2FACp5q

— ��World News 24 �� (@DailyWorld24)
March 11, 2024

Previously, during an interview with the Swiss broadcaster RSI on Saturday, Pope Francis said that Ukraine should have the “courage” to lift “the white flag” to engage in a negotiation process with Russia.

“The Pope had said the strongest side in the war in Ukraine ‘is the one who looks at the situation, thinks about the people and has the courage of the white flag, and negotiates,” the Catholic Review reported, adding that Francis specified that “negotiation is never a surrender.”

“We must negotiate in time,” Pope Francis said, recalling that countries like Türkiye are willing to serve as mediators in a peace process.

Asked about the Ukrainian reaction to what the leader of the Catholic Church said, Russian Foreign Ministry representative Maria Zakharova said that White Flag’s proposal would appear to be directed at those promoting the Ukrainian conflict.

❗️#NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg rejected the Pope’s call for #Ukraine to “raise the white flag” and begin negotiations with #Russia

“Surrender is not peace. Putin started this war and can end it today. Ukraine, on the other hand, does not have such an opportunity,”… pic.twitter.com/h1ndaX0l6T

— NEXTA (@nexta_tv)
March 11, 2024

“The way I see it, the Pope is asking the West to put aside his ambitions and admit that it was wrong,” she said, recalling that Russia never blocked peace negotiations.

“Zakharova said that everyone currently understands that the situation in the war-torn country is at a ‘dead end.’ This is why ‘many diplomats and countries are calling for negotiations,’ the spokesperson added,” the AA agency reported.

Pope Francis’ statements on Saturday revived diplomatic tensions between the Vatican and the regime of President Volodymyr Zelensky.

“In September 2023, the Ukrainian president’s advisor, Mykhailo Podoliak, rejected the papacy’s mediation proposal, calling it ‘pro-Russian.’ While Pope Francis periodically calls for peace in Ukraine, Kiev criticizes him for not condemning Russia enough,” RT commented.

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