Cardinal Pietro Parolin, 69, Vatican Secretary of State, is the Pope's closest collaborator and heads the Holy See's diplomacy. It is clear that he has spoken about this with Francis, after the worldwide controversy following the interview in which the Pontiff, on Swiss radio and television, in response to a question about Ukraine and the 'courage of the white flag', had said that it was necessary to have that courage in the sense of 'negotiating'.

Q-. Your Eminence, it seems clear that the Pope is calling for negotiation and not surrender. But why address only one of the two sides, Ukraine and not Russia? And evoking the 'defeat' of the attacked, as a motivation for negotiation, does not risk being counterproductive?

A-. As recalled by the director of the Vatican press office, quoting the Holy Father's words of 25 February, the Pontiff's appeal is that "the conditions have to be created for a diplomatic solution in the search for a just and lasting peace." In this sense, it is obvious that the creation of such conditions is not the responsibility of just one of the parties, but of both, and the first condition seems to me to be precisely that of putting an end to the aggression. We must never forget the context and, in this case, the question that was put to the Pope, who, in response, spoke of negotiation and, in particular, the courage of negotiation, which is never a surrender. The Holy See is pursuing this line and continues to call for a 'cease-fire' - and the aggressors should be the ones to cease fire first - and then the opening of negotiations. The Holy Father explains that negotiation is not weakness, but it is strength. It is not surrender, but it is courage. And he tells us that we must have a greater regard for human life, for the hundreds of thousands of lives that have been sacrificed in this war in the heart of Europe. These are words that apply to Ukraine as they do to the Holy Land and to the other conflicts that stain the world with blood.

D-. Is there still a chance of reaching a diplomatic solution?

A-. Since these are decisions that depend on human will, there is always the possibility of reaching a diplomatic solution. The war unleashed against Ukraine is not the effect of an uncontrollable natural disaster but of human freedom alone, and the same human will that caused this tragedy also has the possibility and responsibility to take steps to end it and pave the way for a diplomatic solution.

D-. Is the Holy See's concern an escalation? You yourself spoke about it saying that "it is frightening" the hypothesis of the involvement of western countries.

A-. The Holy See is worried about the risk of the war escalating. The level raising of the conflict, the outbreak of new armed clashes, the race to rearmament are dramatic and disturbing signals in this sense. The widening of the war means new suffering, new mourning, new victims, new destruction, which are added to those that the Ukrainian people - especially children, women, the elderly and civilians, are experiencing in their own flesh, paying the all too high price of this unjust war.

See, Parolin: «La prima condizione per la pace in Ucraina è mettere fine all’aggressione»