The comments were “certainly not (intended) to glorify royal reasoning and government personalities”.
Pope Francis regularly calls for peace in Ukraine, although he drew criticism for not naming Moscow as the aggressor in the early months following Russia’s invasion in February 2022.
He appointed a top cardinal earlier this year to try to broker peace, who has since visited both Moscow and Kiev.
The Vatican’s official media portal reported on the Pope’s video message on the occasion of Russian Youth Day on 25 August, but did not include the video or the specific quotes that Kiev objected to.
Instead, it reported that the Pope called on Russian youth to become “craftsmen of peace” and to “sow the seeds of reconciliation”.
The Kremlin, for its part, welcomed the Pope’s comments.
Government spokesman Dimitri Peskov said, “The pontiff knows Russian history. It’s great.”