Zelensky and Pope Francis meet at the Vatican 1:17

(CNN) --

Pope Francis caused outrage after saying that Ukraine should have the "value of the white flag" and negotiate to end the war with Russia.

In an interview with Swiss broadcaster Radio Télévision Suisse (RTS) published this Saturday, Francis was asked if he believes the negotiations would "legitimize the stronger party."

"That's one interpretation," he responded.

"But I think the strongest is the one who sees the situation, the one who thinks about the people, the one who has the courage of the white flag, to negotiate."

The pope added: "and today negotiations are possible with the help of international powers."

  • Russia's new guided bomb inflicts devastation and heavy casualties on Ukrainian front lines

The comments prompted a swift response from Kyiv, which has seen tens of thousands of people die and is trying to reclaim all of its territory taken from it by Russia.

"Our flag is yellow and blue. This is the flag by which we live, die and prevail. We will never raise any other flag," said Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba in a message posted this Sunday on social media. .

advertising

"The strongest is the one who, in the battle between good and evil, stands on the side of good instead of trying to put them on the same plane and call it 'negotiations,'" he said.

A group of people wave Ukrainian flags in St. Peter's Square as Pope Francis addresses the crowd this Sunday.

(Credit: Alberto Pizzoli/AFP/Getty Images)

Speaking to Ukrainians in New York this Saturday, the father and head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, His Beatitude Svyatoslav, said that "Ukraine is wounded, but undefeated" and that no one is thinking of making concessions.

"I want to tell you one thing on behalf of the people of Ukraine," Father Sviatoslav said, according to a statement from the Greek Catholic Church.

"Ukraine is exhausted, but it remains and will remain standing! Believe me, no one thinks about surrendering, not even in the places where fighting is taking place today," he said.

Later this Saturday, the director of the Holy See Press Office, Matteo Bruni, clarified the pope's comments to journalists, saying that "the pope picked up the image of the white flag, proposed by the interviewer, to indicate a cessation of hostilities, a truce reached with the courage of negotiation," and not surrender as some might have interpreted his comments, Vatican News reported.

  • Archbishopric of Toledo, Spain, rejects the comments of two priests for wishing that Pope Francis “go to heaven soon”

Other European leaders also rejected Francis' comments.

"How about, for balance, encouraging Putin to have the courage to withdraw his army from Ukraine?" Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski said Sunday in a post on X. "Peace would come immediately without need for negotiations."

"My opinion from Sunday morning: We must not capitulate to [the] evil, we must fight it and defeat it, so that evil raises the white flag and capitulates," said Latvian President Edgars Rinkēvičs in a post on x.

Alexandra Valkenburg, head of the EU delegation to the Holy See, said this Sunday in X that "Russia started an illegal and unjustified war against Ukraine two years ago" and that Russia "can end this war immediately" while respecting sovereignty and the territorial integrity of Ukraine.

Vatican CityRussian War in UkraineCatholic ChurchPope Francis