Europe’s Catholic bishops issued a strong statement of solidarity with the people of Ukraine “amid deepening geopolitical complexities and uncertainties” days after an unprecedented Oval Office blow-up between President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky. A visibly angry Mr. Trump asked the Ukrainian delegation to leave the White House on Feb. 28, abruptly terminating a deal Mr. Zelensky was about to sign that would have essentially traded a percentage of Ukraine’s rare earth resources for continued U.S. support of the war effort.
Mr. Trump and Mr. Vance had each accused Mr. Zelensky of ingratitude and disrespect after the Ukraine president challenged the vice president’s characterizations of Ukraine’s capacity to continue the fight against Russia. On March 3, Mr. Trump, his anger reignited after Mr. Zelensky told reporters that the end of the war with Russia “is still very, very far away,” suspended U.S. arms transfers to Ukraine.
The European bishops were careful to note that their expression of solidarity was extended to Ukrainians “who have been suffering from Russia’s unjustifiable full-scale invasion for more than three years.” Though the statement did not call out Mr. Trump by name, the E.U. bishops did say: “We firmly reject any attempts to distort the reality of this aggression.”
Mr. Trump in recent statements has seemed to blame Ukraine for the Russian Federation’s decision to invade in February 2022; he also described Mr. Zelensky as a dictator and has declined to criticize Russia or its president Vladimir Putin.
In the statement, released on March 4, the Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Union added: “In order to be sustainable and just, a future peace accord must fully respect international law and be underpinned by effective security guarantees to prevent the conflict from re-erupting.”
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Kevin Clarke is America’s chief correspondent and the author of Oscar Romero: Love Must Win Out (Liturgical Press).
With thanks to the America Magazine and Kevin Clarke, where this article originally appeared.
