Putin has repeatedly spoken about 'openness' for talks on Ukraine, Kremlin says on pope’s remarks

ISTANBUL

Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly spoken about his country’s "readiness and openness" for talks on Ukraine, the Kremlin spokesman said in response to remarks made by Pope Francis late last week.

“You know that Putin has repeatedly spoken about our readiness and openness to solve our problems through negotiations, and this is the preferred path,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

During an interview with Switzerland’s public broadcasting service released on Saturday, Pope Francis said that he believes the “strongest” with regard to the situation in Ukraine is the one who has “the courage to raise the white flag and negotiate.”

Peskov said to his understanding, there was a broader context to the pope’s statements, but that he generally spoke in favor of negotiations. According to the Kremlin spokesman, the pope’s and Russia’s comments have been met with “absolutely harsh denial” by Ukraine.

Ukraine slammed Pope Francis’ comments in later statements, with Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba defining the "strongest" as the one who “stands on the side of good rather than attempting to put them on the same footing and call it ‘negotiations’.”

"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,” he added.

Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told Italian state news agency ANSA on Sunday that she sees the pope's remarks as an appeal to the West to "put aside its ambitions and admit that it was wrong" with regards to the Ukraine conflict.

Reaction to 'energy blackmail’ accusation

Peskov said that accusations voiced last week by Moldovan President Maia Sandu of an “energy blackmail” by Russia are “absolutely unfounded and unjustified.”

“You know that, unfortunately, Mrs. Sandu very often accuses Russia of some kind of energy blackmail. At the same time, there is no talk of any blackmail; these are absolutely commercial issues,” Peskov said.

During an official visit to the French capital Paris last Thursday, Sandu accused Russia of trying to control Moldova through “energy blackmail, sponsoring protests, running disinformation campaigns, launching cyber-attacks, interfering in our elections, infiltrating dirty money and even attempting a coup.”

Expressing that Moldova knows that Moscow’s “expansionist” goals extend “beyond Ukraine,” Sandu said Russia's actions to “undermine” democracy in her country are proof of this.