Pope says Ukraine war fuelled not just by 'Russian empire'

FILE PHOTO: Pope Francis holds the weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, March 8, 2023. REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - The war in Ukraine is driven by the interests of several "empires" and not just of Russia's, Pope Francis said in an interview published on Friday.

Francis said the conflict was fuelled by "imperial interests, not just of the Russian empire, but of empires from elsewhere."