Ukraine updates: Germany criticizes pope over 'white flag'

Ukraine is currently building three fortification lines spanning more than 1,000 kilometers (621 miles) to stop Russian advances, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced on Monday. 

"When we talk about fortifications, we're talking about an ongoing process," Zelenskyy said in an interview with French broadcaster BFM TV.

"We're not talking about a few kilometers, or hundreds of kilometers, but more than 1,000 kilometers of construction."

"It's a very complex task. They must be solid and resistant to changes in the climate (...) but also resistant to whatever military hardware is used against these defensive lines."

Zelenskyy also claimed that the situation for Ukrainian troops had turned around in recent weeks and Russian advances had been "halted" in the east of the country.

"I can give you this fresh piece of information: The situation is now much better than during these past three months," he said.

Ukraine summoned the Vatican's envoy to Kyiv on Monday after Pope Francis suggested the country should consider raising the "white flag" against Russia in an interview over the weekend.

"Due to the statements of Pope Francis the Apostolic Nuncio was invited to the ministry of foreign affairs of Ukraine," the ministry said on social media, using the term for a Vatican diplomat.

Ukrainian officials told the Vatican envoy, Visvaldas Kulbodas, that Kyiv was "disappointed with the words of the Pontiff."

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Monday that Moscow views Pope Francis' comments on the war in Ukraineas a plea for negotiation.

Peskov said that Russian leader Vladimir Putin has expressed willingness to negotiate with Ukraine, adding that it was the "preferred path."

On Saturday, Swiss broadcaster RSI published comments from an interview with Francis from early February, during which the pontiff said the strongest actor was the one that "thinks about the people and has the courage of the white flag, and negotiates."

A Vatican spokesman quickly responded on Saturday that the pope meant "cease-fire and negotiation" and not surrender when he said white flag.

However, the comments quickly drew heavy criticism from Ukraine and its allies. In February 2022, Russia launched an unprovoked invasion of neighboring Ukraine, in what Moscow has called a "special military operation."

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy angrily rejected the call for negotiations, and questioned why the church was attempting to "mediate virtually between someone who wants to live and someone who wants to destroy you."

Bernhard Kotsch, Germany's envoy to the Vatican, said,   "Russia is the aggressor and breaks international law ... therefore Germany asks Moscow to stop the war, not Kyiv."

NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg told Reuters news agency in Brussels on Monday when asked about the pope's remarks that "if we want a negotiated peaceful lasting solution, the way to get there is to provide military support to Ukraine."

The flag of Sweden has been raised at NATO'sheadquarters in Brussels, symbolizing the country's entry into the military alliance.

NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said that Stockholm's accession showed Russian President Vladimir Putin had "failed" in his strategy in Ukraine.

He said that not only were Sweden and Finland now members of the alliance due to the war in Ukraine, but also that "Ukraine is closer to NATO membership than ever before."

Putin cited the threat of Kyiv joining NATO in justifying the invasion of Ukraine, saying Moscow intended to "demilitarize" its western neighbor.

"When President Putin launched his full-scale invasion two years ago, he wanted less NATO and more control over his neighbors. He wanted to destroy Ukraine as a sovereign state, but he failed," Stoltenberg said.

"NATO is bigger and stronger," he said.

"Sweden's accession shows again that NATO's door remains open. No one can close it. Every nation has the right to choose its own path," he added.

He said that he hadn't expected Finland and Sweden to join the alliance during his tenure as secretary-general. "Of course this changed totally with the full-scale invasion of Ukraine and since then things really moved very quickly," he said.

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said at the same news conference: "The security situation in our region has not been this serious since the Second World War, and Russia will stay a threat to Euro-Atlantic security for a foreseeable future."

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz says he does not agree with Pope Francis' comments calling for Kyiv to negotiate with Moscow for an end to the war.

"As you may imagine, the chancellor does not agree with the pope on this question," government spokesperson Steffen Hebestreit told reporters.

"The truth is that Ukraine is defending itself against an aggressor," he said. Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

"We have already discussed this here, and it is also within the framework of international law to defend oneself against such a war of aggression that violates international law, and we and many other countries are supporting Ukraine in this," he added. 

Hebestreit also highlighted that  Vatican spokesperson Matteo Bruni said that the pope did not mean to suggest Ukraine should capitulate.

Pope Francis took the term "white flag" from the interviewer and used it to call for negotiation and a cessation of hostilities, Bruni said.

Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has also expressed her disagreement with the pope's remarks.

One person has been killed by Ukrainian shelling in the western Russian region of Kursk, according to local authorities.

Kursk borders Ukraine's northeastern Sumy region.

The region's governor, Roman Staravoit, said in a post on Telegram that a woman had also suffered injuries as a result of the attack.

He said the village of Goncharovka in the Sudzha district had come under fire in the morning, likely from artillery. The village lies a few kilometers from the border with Ukraine.

Staravoit said that the village of Vnesapnoye was also shelled, which caused damage to a gas pipeline and power line and resulted in outages in four villages.

Meanwhile, Russia's Defense Ministry said that six Ukrainian drones had been shot down, but did not comment on the attack in Kursk directly.

A large grain silo in the eastern Ukrainian Dnipro region has been completely destroyed in a Russian missile attack, according to owner Ukrlandfarming.

Ukrlandfarming is one of Ukraine's largest agrarian holdings.

It said that one person was injured in the attack.

"On the evening of 9 March 2024, the enemy launched a missile attack on the Dnipro region. A 58-year-old man, our employee, was injured. The production facilities of our company were completely destroyed," the firm said in a statement.

Analysts from the Kyiv School of Economics have estimated that Ukraine's agricultural sector has lost almost $80 billion (€73.1 billion) due to Russia's invasion.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has hailed Ukraine's first Oscar, awarded to a film about Russia's attack on the southern city of Mariupol at the start of the invasion in early 2022.

The film "20 Days in Mariupol" won the Oscar award for the best documentary in Los Angeles on Sunday night.

It is a first-person account of the start of Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

"More than two years ago, Russia brutally attacked Mariupol. '20 Days in Mariupol' is a movie that shows the truth about Russian terrorism," Zelenskyy said in a post on his Telegram channel.

The Academy Awards were handed to the documentary's director Mstyslav Chernov, producer and editor Michelle Mizner and producer Raney Aronson-Rath.

Chernov is a video journalist for The Associated Press news agency.

"This is the first Oscar in Ukrainian history, and I'm honored," Chernov said in his acceptance speech.

"Probably I will be the first director on this stage to say I wish I'd never made this film, I wish to be able to exchange this to Russia never attacking Ukraine," he said.

Chernov, photographer Evgeniy Maloletka and producer Vasilsa Stepanenko arrived in the port of Mariupol an hour before Russia began bombing the city.

Russian forces put Mariupol under siege from March to May 2022, marking one of the biggest battles in the war.

Human Rights Watch said that at least 8,000 people were killed by fighting or war-related causes during the siege.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has criticized Pope Francis' call for Kyiv to negotiate with Moscow.

In an interview with Swiss broadcaster RSI, Pope Francis called for the parties in the conflict to "have the courage to raise the white flag and negotiate."

"I don't understand it," Baerbock said in a talk show on Germany's ARD public broadcaster, referring to the pope's comments.

"I think some things you can only understand if you see them for yourself," she said.

Baerbock has traveled to Ukraine multiple times since the start of the war.

She said that if Kyiv and its allies " don't show strength now, there will be no peace."

"We must stand by Ukraine and do everything we can to ensure that it can defend itself," she said.

sdi/nm (Reuters, AFP, AP)