In interviews with Corriere della Sera and Jesuit magazine editors, Pope Francis linked the invasion of Ukraine with “NATO barking at Russia’s gate.”

At a June 16 press conference, Thomas Gutschker of Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung asked NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, a former Norwegian prime minister, about the Pope’s comments. (Gutschker asked his question in a ham-fisted way: “We all know the Pope can claim infallibility for his remarks. Maybe not for this one, but I’d be keen to hear your reply.”)

“So NATO is a defensive alliance and the war in Ukraine is President Putin’s war,” Stoltenberg replied. “This is a war that he has decided to conduct against an independent sovereign nation. And what NATO has been doing for many years is to support the sovereign independent nation in Europe, Ukraine.”

“This is not a threat to anyone,” Stoltenberg continued. “This is not a provocation. And that is what we continue to do. So, it is President Putin and Moscow that is responsible for this brutal aggression against the independent country Ukraine.”