Vladimir Putin Says World War 3 Fears Are Unjustified, But Pope Francis Says WW3 Already Started

Russian President Vladimir Putin is doing his best to quell any fears over the possibility of World War 3 breaking out between the NATO forces and Russia, claiming that only a “sick person” would imagine WW3. Pope Francis would disagree with this assessment, and believes the world has been beset by an “atmosphere of war.”

In a related report by the Inquisitr, Finland has been prepping its army reserves for war, and Sweden is receiving help from U.S. B-52 nuclear bombers as a show of force in Europe. Investor George Soros also believes it is “no exaggeration” to speak of World War 3 starting soon, although he claims a third world war would start in China over financial concerns. The Chinese leadership also recently spoke openly about the possibility of World War 3, but they blamed the United States for “meddling” in world affairs.

The Ukraine war continues to be battled between Kiev and pro-Russian separatist forces, but Vladimir Putin claims he is still committed to a peace deal. Although authorities in Kiev have blamed Russia for inciting further violence, Putin believes the opposite is true and claims Kiev is unwilling to sit down with the rebels and discuss the implementation of the European-brokered peace deal agreed on in February in Minsk.

“The problem is that representatives of the current Kiev authorities do not even want to sit down to talks with them,” Putin said. “And there is nothing we can do about it.”

Putin also claimed that World War 3 fears were unjustified, claiming that Russia’s military would never suddenly attack NATO over the Ukraine crisis.

“I would like to say – there’s no need to be afraid of Russia,” Putin told the newspaper Corriere della Sera according to AFP. “The world has changed so much that people in their right mind cannot imagine such a large-scale military conflict today. We have other things to do, I can assure you. Only a sick person — and even then only in his sleep — can imagine that Russia would suddenly attack NATO.”

This statement is quite different from what Putin said during a private meeting with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso. During the course of their discussion, it was claimed that Vladimir Putin threatened World War 3.

“If I wanted, in two days I could have Russian troops not only in Kiev, but also in Riga, Vilnius, Tallinn, Warsaw and Bucharest.”

Fortunately, the Russian president has backed off from making such public statements, although Poroshenko believes the “colossal threat” of a Russian invasion of Ukraine is imminent.

Pope Francis also fears the possibility of World War 3, although the Catholic leader claims WW3 has already started. The Pope believes the many conflicts around the globe amount to “a kind of third world war being fought piecemeal and, in the context of global communications, we sense an atmosphere of war.”

According to The Catholic Herald, Vladimir Putin and Pope Francis are scheduled to meet in person this week on Wednesday. The Catholic leader has appealed multiple times for peace in Ukraine, and during Easter he said he hopes it is possible to “rediscover peace and hope thanks to the commitment of all interested parties.”

What do you think about the comments made by Vladimir Putin and Pope Francis?

[Image via YouTube]