Days after criticizing Pope Francis for discussing a trip to Moscow, Andrii Yurash, the Ukrainian ambassador to the Holy See, praised the Pope for regularly drawing attention to the war.

“Four months of war has made a lot of people around the world accustomed to this situation,” he said. “ It is “inspiring that the Holy Father understands and is not exhausted repeating again and again the importance of instilling peace.”

The ambassador also said that the war has opened the eyes of Vatican officials to the “real aims of Russian Orthodox policy toward the Catholic Church.” The officials, he said, “are shocked by the position of the Russian church in this conflict.”