Josep Borrell, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, has commented on the Pope’s remarks urging Ukraine to have the “courage of the white flag” and be ready to negotiate with Russia.

He talked about this issue in an interview with state-owned Spanish public radio and television service RTVE.

Asked to comment on the Pope’s remarks, the EU’s diplomacy chief said he had briefly touched upon them in his speech to the UN Security Council earlier in the week: “And in that speech, I myself did not hesitate to say that His Holiness the Pope has entered a garden to which no one invited him”.

Borrell added that he believes it is wrong to “invite Ukraine to surrender. On the contrary, it is time to keep helping it”.

On 9 March, Reuters reported that Pope Francis said in an interview this February that Ukraine should have what he called “the courage of the white flag” and negotiate an end to the war with Russia. The Vatican later clarified the Pope’s words, stressing that he called for a ceasefire and the resumption of negotiations, not the surrender of Ukraine.