The original content of Democracy Now! Headlines appears under the Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 3.0 License (United States). For more, including their other shows and media, visit www.democracynow.org. June 15, 2022 Pope Francis Says Russia's Invasion May Have Been "Provoked" ------------------------------------------------------------ NATO defense ministers have begun a two-day meeting in Brussels to discuss sending more heavy weapons and missile systems to Ukraine as fighting rages on in eastern Ukraine. On Tuesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called for more arms and anti-missile defense systems to combat Russian attacks. Meanwhile, Pope Francis has condemned what he described as "the cruelty of Russian troops" in Ukraine. But the pope also suggested the war had been provoked. He said, "We do not see the whole drama unfolding behind this war, which was perhaps somehow either provoked or not prevented." .