Kremlin supports Pope Francis’ calling for talks with Ukraine

The Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said the government understands the words by Pope Francis about negotiations to resolve the conflict in Ukraine.

However, he said that such proposals "are met with an absolutely harsh denial" on the part of Kyiv, Kommersant reports.

"The point he (Pope Francis) was making is of course quite understandable. He spoke in favor of negotiations. You know that our president has repeatedly spoken about the readiness to solve problems through negotiations ... both the pope's statements and repeated statements by other parties have recently met with an absolutely harsh denial on the part of Kyiv," Peskov said.

According to the spokesman, the position of the Ukrainian authorities is fueled by statements by European politicians who "are doing their utmost to doom Russia to an imminent strategic defeat." He described this as a "deepest misconception" adding "the events on the battlefield testify to this".