Ukrainian MFA: It's very unfortunate that Russian great-power ideas, knowingly or unknowingly, come from Pope's mouth

Spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Oleh Nikolenko expressed regret that in his speech, Pope Francis voiced "Russian great-power ideas" with which the Kremlin justifies the killings of Ukrainians.

"Never forget the legacy. You are the heirs of Great Russia: Great Russia of saints, rulers, Great Russia of Peter I, Catherine II, that empire – great, enlightened, of great culture and great humanity. Never give up this legacy, you are the heirs of the great Mother Russia, go forward with it. And thanks. Thank you for your way of being, for your way of being Russian.' This is a quote from Pope Francis' speech to the participants of the 10th National Meeting of Young Catholics of Russia in St. Petersburg on August 25," Nikolenko said on Facebook.

The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said it is precisely with such imperialist propaganda, "spiritual bonds" and "need" to save the "great Mother Russia" that the Kremlin justifies the murders of thousands of Ukrainians and Ukrainian women, the destruction of hundreds of Ukrainian cities and villages.

"It is very unfortunate that Russian grand-power ideas, which, in fact, are the cause of Russia's chronic aggression, knowingly or unknowingly, come from the Pope's mouth, whose mission, in our understanding, is precisely to open the eyes of Russian youth to the destructive course of the current Russian leadership," Nikolenko said.