That title is slightly misleading.

From Reuters (Philip Pullella) the 14th of June due to the publication by the Jesuit journal Civilta Cattolica that day of a transcript of an interview with pope Francis.

"In the conversation with the Jesuit editors, Francis said that several months before President Vladimir Putin sent his forces into Ukraine, the pontiff had met with a head of state who expressed concern that NATO was "barking at the gates of Russia" in a way that could lead to war.

Francis then said in his own words: "We do not see the whole drama unfolding behind this war, which was perhaps somehow either provoked or not prevented".

Asking himself rhetorically if that made him "pro-Putin", he said: "No, I am not. It would be simplistic and wrong to say such a thing"." https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/pope-criticises-russia-...

So this raises the questions: a) who was this 'head of state' b) could this costly war somehow have been prevented in a way that still maintained the security of Ukraine or Europe or was it inevitable?

The 19th of may transcript:

https://www.laciviltacattolica.com/pope-francis-in-conversat...

Francis isn't the Pope: Benedict is.