On Tuesday, the Vatican said for the first time that Russia was the aggressor in the war in Ukraine, sharply condemning Moscow's invasion. This happened against the backdrop of earlier comments by Pope Francis, which provoked criticism from Kyiv.. The Vatican issued a statement to this effect..

“Regarding the large-scale war in Ukraine initiated by the Russian Federation, the speeches of the Holy Father Francis are clear and unambiguous, condemning it as morally unjust, unacceptable, barbaric, senseless, disgusting, and blasphemy,” the communique says..

The Vatican stressed that they had responded to the heated public discussions that have arisen in recent days regarding the political significance of the Pope's statements..

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This is the first time that Francis directly blamed Russia for the conflict.. Prior to that, he was guided by the constant policy of the Vatican “not to choose sides in the conflict”, therefore he did not name Vladimir Putin as the culprit of military aggression in Ukraine.

According to The New York Times, in this way, Francis was likely seeking to preserve the church's chances of playing a constructive role in potential peace negotiations..

Last week, he called Daria Dugina, a 29-year-old Russian ultra-nationalist who advocated an invasion of Ukraine and died in a car bombing, an "

After that, the head of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry called the Vatican's ambassador to Ukraine to express his deep disappointment with the words of Francis.

A few weeks earlier, Pope Francis said he believes the head of the Kremlin was provoked in some way..