Pope Francis has been defended by Queen Elizabeth II's former Chaplain after making comments on the war between Russia and Ukraine.
In a transcript which has surfaced ahead of an interview with Swiss broadcaster RSI, the Pope is quoted to have urged Ukraine to "have the courage to negotiate" with Russia.
Obtained by Reuters, the transcript quotes the interviewer asking the Pope for his view on the ongoing conflict, and if Ukraine "waving a white flag" and negotiating with Russia would "legitimise aggression".
Pope Francis said: "The strongest one is the one who looks at the situation, thinks about the people and has the courage of the white flag, and negotiates.
Dr Gavin Ashenden has defended the Pope after making comments about Ukraine
GB News / Reuters
"When you see that you are defeated, that things are not going well, you have to have the courage to negotiate."
The comments, set to be broadcast on March 20, have infuriated Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky, who dismissed the comments as "virtual mediation".
Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba hit back at the comments and says the country will "never raise any other flags" than their blue and yellow colours.
Reacting to the comments, Dr Gavin Ashenden has defended the Pope, claiming he has done "very well" and he is "proud" of the religious leader.
Pope Francis said Ukraine should have the 'courage to negotiate' with Russia
Reuters
Ashenden told GB News: "He's acting as a Pope should, and I'm very proud of him for doing it. There are so few voices telling the obvious truth in the world."
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Ashenden explained: "There are two issues here, there's geopolitical calculations and moral ones. The moral ones are quite clear.
"This appears to be a conflict in which there is a form of deadlock. Lots of people are dying. It would be more sensible to stop and negotiate an end to it instead of allowing so many more young men to die."
GB News host Tom Harwood argued that there is a "moral hazard" in the Pope's comments, given the actions of Russia and Crimea in 2014.
Tom said: "I would have thought that the Pope, being someone who engages in moral philosophy on a day-to-day basis, would think about this moral hazard. Is it not simply going to do the same thing to say let's just negotiate, let's have Ukraine raise, in the Pope's word, the white flag of surrender, only then to let Russia rearm and no doubt push on further once they've reinforced their lines of defence?"
Tom Harwood argued that the Pope's comments are a 'moral hazard'
GB News
Ashenden responded: "It is the case there's a deadlock of some kind that neither side is winning. And it does appear that Ukraine is being used as a proxy for putting pressure on Russia by NATO and Europe, and it's not going very well.
"The Russians aren't doing very well, the Ukrainians aren't doing very well. There's no obvious way in which a deadlock can be breached. But Putin is even disastrously and immorally talking about a nuclear strike, which is horrific."
Host Emily Carver then asked Ashenden if it would be "appeasement" for Russia and Ukraine to negotiate on their sovereign territory.
Emily stated: "To allow Putin to take something, he will then not stop at that point. And I think there's quite a lot of evidence to suggest that's the case."
Ashenden disagreed, saying: "The Russian speakers of Donetsk would say they're not being appeased, they want self defence and self determination."