ROME, March 10. /TASS/. Pope Francis believes that "the imperial interests" of various countries are shining through in the Ukraine conflict, the Vatican News writes, citing the pontiff’s interview for the Italian Swiss Radio and Television.

"In a little over a hundred years, there have been three world wars: in 1914-1918, in 1939-1945, and this one, which is a world war. It started in bits and pieces and now no one can say it is not worldwide. The great powers are all caught up in it. The battlefield is Ukraine. Everyone is fighting there," Pope Francis said, as cited by the Vatican News. "There are imperial interests there, not only of the Russian empire, but of empires elsewhere. It is typical of the empire to put nations in second place," he added.

The pope confirmed his readiness to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin, "an educated man." Pope Francis noted that right after the start of Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine, he went to the Russian Embassy at the Holy See to say that he was willing to go to Moscow if the Russian authorities gave him "a window to negotiate." "[Russian Foreign Minister Sergey] Lavrov wrote to me, saying thank you but now is not the time," Pope Francis said.

The pontiff has repeatedly said that his visit to Kiev, on which the Ukrainian authorities have been insisting, is only possible if he is also able to make a trip to Moscow. He previously echoed this sentiment on his way back from an apostolic journey to Africa in early February. The pope said at that time that he was open to meet with the presidents of both Ukraine and Russia. Pope Francis has met with Putin before, with the Russian leader’s last trip to the Vatican taking place in July 2019.