The adviser to the head of the Ukrainian presidential office, Mykhailo Podolyak, has said that Pope Francis cannot be an intermediary in the negotiations between Ukraine and Russia. He said this in an interview with Channel 24.

Podolyak added that the Pope’s rhetoric “made his mediation mission impossible” because he “broadcasts pro-Russian narratives.”

“This is absolute, unconscious, certainly, but a nullification of the Holy See’s reputation,” he said.

The adviser to the head of the Office of the President also said that “if a person clearly promotes the right of Russia to kill in another sovereign territory the citizens of another country, it is a promotion of war as such.”