Pope Francis cannot mediate in the
Ukraine war because he is pro-Russian, President Volodymyr
Zelensky's senior advisor said Friday after Francis last week
cited 'the great mother Russia' in urging young Russian to learn
from their cultural heritage.
The pope's comment, which he later insisted were strictly
cultural, irked Kyiv which accused Francis of legitimising past
and present imperialist drives by Moscow.
On Friday Mykhailo Podolyak, Zelensky's chief advisor, in a long
and polemical conversation with Oksana Kharkovska on Ukraine's
Channel 24 - relaunched by the Vatican news site 'Il Sismografo'
- said: "No mediation role for the Pope, he is pro-Russian, not
credible".
He said Kyiv therefore excludes the possibility of Vatican
mediation to resolve the military conflict on Ukrainian
territory. Podolyak also hinted at Russian investments in the
Vatican Bank, the Institute for Religious Works (IOR).
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