Francis made his comments on a flight back from a trip to the French port city of Marseille. He was responding to a journalist’s question if he was disappointed that his efforts to bring peace had not succeeded. He has sent an envoy, Italian Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, to Kyiv, Moscow, Washington and Beijing to meet with leaders.
He said he felt a little frustrated and then started talking randomly about the arms industry and the war.
“It seems to me that the interests of this war are related not only to the Ukrainian-Russian problem, but also to the sale of arms, the arms trade,” he said.
“We should not play games with the martyrdom of these people. We should help them to solve things… I see now that some countries (Ukraine) are moving back, not wanting to provide arms. A process of martyrdom is starting. Of course it will be the Ukrainian people, it’s an ugly thing,” he said.
Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni demanded clarification that the pope was not taking a position on whether countries should continue or stop sending weapons to Ukraine.
“It was a reflection on the consequences of the arms industry: the Pope was saying with an irony that arms traffickers would never pay the consequences of their choices, but leave them to pay for people like the Ukrainians. Martyred,” Bruni said.
Many countries, including the United States, are facing domestic political pressure to stop or reduce arms spending on Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday appealed to US lawmakers for continued support amid doubts from some Republicans about whether Congress should authorize more aid.
China Says Biden Is Negotiating Biggest Arms Transfer Deal With Vietnam
Francis has generally condemned the international arms trade, but last year said it was morally legitimate to provide weapons to Ukraine to help the country defend against Russian aggression.
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2023-09-24 13:42:55
