NNA - German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has sharply criticised Pope Francis's call for Ukraine to negotiate with Moscow, saying she didn't "understand" his stance.

The pope sparked a furore at the weekend after saying in an interview on Swiss television that one should "have the courage to raise the white flag and negotiate", two years into Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.

"I don't understand it," Baerbock said in a talk show on public broadcaster ARD late Sunday.

"I think some things you can only understand if you see them for yourself," added Baerbock, who has travelled to Kyiv several times since the start of the war.

When talking to children in Ukraine who are suffering because of the war, she said, "I ask myself: Where is the pope? The pope must know about these things."

Baerbock said if Ukraine 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 added. -- AFP

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