ROME, June 14. /TASS/. The conflict in Ukraine may have been provoked and its interpretation cannot be confined to distinguishing between "bad and good," Pope Francis said in a conversation with the editors of European magazines of the Society of Jesus, published by the newspaper La Stampa on Tuesday.
"The worst problem is that we do not see the overall drama" behind the conflict in Ukraine, which "was to a certain extent provoked or not prevented," the Pope said. He also drew attention to the sale of weapons involved. "It's very sad, but in the final count, that's the point," he added.
"Some may tell me that I am in favor of [Russian President Vladimir] Putin. This is not so. It would be an oversimplification and a mistake to say so. I am simply against confining the complexity of the ongoing devastation to division into good and bad, without giving thought to the roots and interests that are extremely complex. We must not forget about the problems in order to try to solve them," Francis said.
In an interview published earlier, the head of the Roman Catholic Church admitted that NATO played a role in the conflict in Ukraine by "barking at Russia's door." The Pope repeated this idea, but attributed it to "one very wise head of state", whom he had met "a couple of months before the conflict."
"He said he was extremely concerned about what NATO was doing. I asked him why. And he replied: ’They are barking at Russia’s door while staying totally unaware that Russia will not let any foreign force come close.’ And he concluded: ‘All this can lead to war.’ That head of state understood the signals that were being given," the Pope said.