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Politics

Pope Repeats View NATO Positioning Was Factor in Russia War Move

  • Francis says alliance ‘somehow provoked’ Moscow’s decision
  • Pontiff calls Russia out for brutality in war with neighbor
Pope Francis

Pope Francis

Photographer: Alberto Pizzoli/AFP/Getty Images

Moves and posturing by NATO may have “somehow provoked, or not prevented” Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, according to Pope Francis, who reiterated a previously expressed view about the alliance in remarks published Tuesday by daily La Stampa.

Speaking during a pool interview with a group of newspapers, the Pope condemned the brutality and ferocity of Russian troops in Ukraine, but said that, in this conflict, “there is no metaphysical good or bad.”