From a Wall Street Journal story by Francis X. Rocca headlined “Pope Francis Defends His Stance on Ukraine War”:

Pope Francis defended his practice of not naming Russia as the aggressor in Ukraine, saying that his condemnation of Moscow has been clear even though not explicit.

The pope, speaking to a U.S. Catholic magazine, emphasized the value of diplomacy in the Vatican’s approach to the Ukraine war, as well as in regard to China.