MOSCOW, March 27. /TASS/. Pope Francis’ peace-making stance on the Ukrainian conflict has triggered outrage in the West, which is expecting the Vatican to launch a "new crusade against Russia" instead of calling for peace talks, Viktor Medvedchuk, former leader of the Opposition Platform-For Life party, which is banned in Ukraine, and current head of the Other Ukraine movement, said.

In an op-ed published on the smotrim.ru media platform, the Ukrainian opposition figure analyzed the reasons behind the wave of criticism that has been directed at the pontiff after his recent remarks on the Ukrainian conflict. In an interview with Switzerland’s RSI broadcaster, Pope Francis called for negotiations and a stop to the bloodshed, spoke of the "courage not to drive the country to suicide" and pointed out that a rationale for continuing a war is always found by those who profit from it.

"[Pope] Francis literally slam-dunked the collective West with its military industry profiting from the Ukrainian conflict, basically earning blood money. Even the Pope was not forgiven for speaking this truth, and a campaign to discredit him was launched," the politician wrote. That said, none of the European peace bashers, in contrast to the Pope, had thought about the causes and mechanisms of the Ukrainian conflict, Medvedchuk noted. "They are urging us not to believe in God, but in war. To believe that their political opponents represent universal evil. <...> All of this means that the collective West is not expecting any kind of peace-making initiatives from the Holy See, but rather a declaration of a new holy crusade against Russia," the politician stressed.

Commenting on the wave of criticism against the Pope, Medvedchuk drew some historical parallels. He reiterated that, at some point, Adolph Hitler accused the Vatican of adopting a stance in favor of peace. "It was precisely [Hitler] who demanded that his troops display ruthlessness toward their enemies and disavowed Christian love for one’s neighbor in every way. Nowadays, such rhetoric is being heard not only from the clique [of Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky] but also from many Western politicians. And then it becomes clear why they completely ignore any [manifestations of] Nazism in Ukraine," he pointed out.

The politician is confident that the ideological war being waged by contemporary Western politicians against Christian morals at a new level is a repeat of the history of Nazism. According to him, this means that Europe is rolling backwards to the Middle Ages, as has happened before. The Kiev regime is already burning books by Russian authors, banning the canonical Orthodox Church and arresting priests and Russian Orthodox journalists for making calls for peace. "Judging from the attacks on the Pope, soon this book burning will reach Europe," he writes.

According to Medvedchuk, in this situation, Russia remains an island where Christian values are upheld instead of being trampled upon by the leaders of various countries. "Currently, Russia is containing the military hysteria being promoted by the collective West precisely through its balanced Christian stance. <...> So, Russia’s positions now are very firm. And as for the crusades against Russia, they have never ended up producing anything good for the collective West since the time of Alexander Nevsky," the politician concluded.