The Pope said that dialogue with Russia “even if it smells bad” cannot be excluded.
Pope Francis confirmed today that it is possible to have a dialogue with warring states and that while it is difficult to understand that this is an unwelcome situation, it is a “smelly” situation and that it must be done. There was no “red line” to try and talk to Russia at a press conference on the papal plane on his way back from a three-day visit to Kazakhstan.
Pope, who was sitting in a chair in front of the journalists in the back seat of the plane due to problems in his knee, argued that it is always necessary to try to establish a dialogue with the “aggressive country”.
“It is always difficult to understand the dialogue with the states that started the war. It is difficult, but we do not have to exclude it, we must give everyone the opportunity to have dialogue, because there is always the possibility that something can happen. It can be changed,” he said. In particular, Francisco avoids any reference to Russia.