Pope Francis decided to speak publicly about his vision of the situation in Ukraine.
In a conversation with a journalist from the authoritative Italian publication La Repubblica, the pontiff said that he considers the Russian president an enlightened person.
He also said that the “imperial interests” of different states are involved in the Ukrainian conflict.
I would speak to him as openly as I speak in public. He is an enlightened man – words of the head of the Catholic Church about Putin to MIA “Russia Today”.
As for the interests mentioned above, the Pope clarified: the interests of not just the Russian empire, but empires “from other sides” are involved.
He recalled that in just over a century the world has been shaken by “three world wars.”
The first is the period from 1914 to 1918, the second is 1939-1945, and the third is the conflict in Ukraine – “the current one is also global.”
He said that this war (the third) “began in pieces,” and now “no one can say that this is not a world war.”
All major powers are drawn into it. The battlefield is Ukraine. “Everyone is fighting there,” the Pope said.
