2023-05-13 16:49:51
Ukrainian President, Volodimir Zelensky, and Pope Francis met this Saturday in the Vatican for about 40 minutes, in an expected meeting that took place after the pontiff revealed that a mission is underway to end the war in Ukraine of which the details are not yet known.
Zelensky arrived at the Vatican at 4:10 p.m. local time from the Chigi Palace, the seat of the Italian government, where he he met with the prime minister, Giorgia Meloniafter being previously also received by the Head of State, Sergio Mattarella.
“Thank you for this visit”, said the Pope when welcoming the Ukrainian president. “It’s a great honor,” replied Zelensky, dressed in his usual outfit of military pants and a tracksuit with Ukrainian insignia.
In an unusual gesture, Francisco approached the entrance to the Vatican offices to receive Zelenski, when he usually waits in his offices for those who visit him.
The Pope gave him a bronze work representing an olive branch, a symbol of peace, as well as this year’s Message for Peace, the Document on Human Fraternity, and the volume “An encyclical on peace in Ukraine.”
The Ukrainian president, for his part, presented him with a work of art made from a bulletproof vest and a painting titled “Loss”, about the killing of children during the conflict.
After the protocol exchange of gifts and greetings, both they talked for about 40 minutes.
In a written statement, the Vatican reported that Francis and Zelensky discussed the “humanitarian and political situation in Ukraine caused by the ongoing war.”
“The Pope assured his constant prayer, witnessed by his numerous public appeals and by his continuous invocation of the Lord for peace, since February of last year,” he added.
“Both agreed on the need to continue with humanitarian work” to help the population and “the Pope stressed in particular the urgent need for ‘humanitarian gestures’ towards the most fragile people, innocent victims of the conflict,” the statement added.
After the meeting, Zelensky tweeted about the meeting, saying he had asked the pontiff to “condemn Russian crimes in Ukraine.”
This was the Pope’s first meeting with the Ukrainian president since the war began, although both met previously when Francis received Zelenski on February 8, 2020, when they already spoke “of the humanitarian situation and the search for peace” in the context “of the conflict that, since 2014, has plagued Ukraine.”
The 86-year-old Argentine pope has called on numerous occasions for the end of the war that began in February 2022 with the Russian invasion of Ukraine. This same Saturday, when receiving ambassadors, he evoked the “unspeakable suffering and deaths” caused by that conflict.
Earlier, Zelensky met with Italian leaders after a morning flight to Rome. He received assurances from Italian officials that kyiv will continue to receive unlimited financial and military aid, as well as further backing for Ukraine’s cherished goal of joining the European Union.
One of the meetings was with the Italian Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni. “The message is clear and simple,” Meloni said, flanked by Zelenski as the two spoke to reporters after their meeting in her office, which lasted more than an hour.
“The future of Ukraine is a future of peace and freedom. And it is the future of Europe, a future of peace and freedom, for which there are no other possible solutions.
After his visit to Italy concludes, it is believed that Zelensky will travel to Berlin. The exact agenda of the Ukrainian leader was not announced publicly for security reasons.
The German government recently announced a new military aid plan for Ukraine of 2.7 billion euros (2.95 billion dollars).
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