Ukrainian society did not accept the idea of Pope Francis when two people symbolically carried Ukrainian and Russian flags together in the Vatican. President Volodymyr Zelensky said this in an interview with the Italian TV channel Rai 1.
"I will explain to you how our society reacts to this: when the Pope prays for Ukraine, we are always grateful to him. When he showed by the example of two people who carried Ukrainian and Russian flags that there should be friendship, we could not accept it," Zelensky said.
The president explained this by the fact that now in Ukraine there is such an attitude towards the Russian flag that it is perceived as a symbol of invaders.
"There has been a mental split, it is no longer the flag that is raised at competitions, at the Olympics. Today it's the flag they used to kill us with. And we have that association. It's hard to understand when it doesn't directly affect you," Zelensky added.
Recall that on Good Friday, April 15, on one of the sections of the traditional Way of the Cross in Rome, a cross was held by a Ukrainian and a Russian woman, symbolizing the "reconciliation" of the two nations.
