Unsurprisingly, the warmongers at NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) have rejected Pope Francis’s appeal for peace negotiations to Ukraine. The has suggested that Ukraine and Russia engage in talks that would “end the conflict” and bring about a peaceful solution to the war.

While Russia has said it is open to talking about peace, Ukraine, and now NATO have both rejected the idea. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has said that Ukraine needs more military aid before it can start negotiating a peace deal with Russia. So before they can think of peace, they need to make sure there’s plenty of war with weapons and equipment supplied by the West. His comments came after Pope Francis told Swiss broadcaster RSI that Kiev should have “the courage of the white flag” and begin talks with Moscow.

Pope Calls For Ukraine And Russia Peace Talks. What Do The Warring Nations Think?

Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba immediately responded saying they would never raise a “white flag.” “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 wrote on X, which was formally Twitter.

The strongest is the one who, in the battle between good and evil, stands on the side of good rather than attempting to put them on the same footing and call it “negotiations”.

At the same time, when it comes to the white flag, we know this Vatican's strategy from the first half…

— Dmytro Kuleba (@DmytroKuleba) March 10, 2024

In a statement on Sunday, which did not directly refer to the pontiff’s interview but came out shortly after the transcript was released, President Vladimir Zelensky said that religious figures trying to help Ukraine should not be “virtually mediating between someone who wants to live and someone who wants to destroy you,” according to a report by RT. 

Speaking with Reuters on Monday, Stoltenberg rejected the idea, saying more military support, or more war, for Ukraine, is the way to achieve a negotiated peaceful solution. The secretary-general added that “what happens around a negotiating table is inextricably linked to the strength on the battlefield.”

“It’s not the time to talk about surrender by the Ukrainians. That will be a tragedy for the Ukrainians. It will also be dangerous for all of us,” he claimed.

Meanwhile, Russia claims that it prefers to have peace talks. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday that the Pope’s ideas echo those expressed by Russia, which considers negotiations “the preferred way” of ending the conflict.