Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski on Sunday snapped back at Pope Francis' controversial remarks that Ukraine should negotiate with Moscow after more than two years of war.
"How about encouraging [Russian President Vladimir] Putin to have the courage to withdraw his army from Ukraine as compensation? Then peace would return immediately without the need for negotiations," Sikorski wrote on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.
The minister was responding to an interview with Francis by a Swiss public television broadcaster. A portion of the interview, which was recorded in early February, was released on Saturday, according to Vatican News, a website of the Holy See. The full interview is to air March 20.
Poland is one of the most committed political and military supporters of Ukraine as it fights to repel Russia's full-scale invasion. A member of both the European Union and NATO, Poland has taken in almost 1 million refugees from its eastern neighbour.
"When you see that you are defeated, that things are not going well, it is necessary to have the courage to negotiate," the pope said when asked about the war in Ukraine. He did not explicitly name Ukraine or Russia in his reply.
He went on to say that the strongest actor is the one that "thinks about the people and has the courage of the white flag, and negotiates."
Talks should take place with the help of international powers, Francis said.