Pope Francis peace envoy to Ukraine visits Kiev for talks

the italian cardinal Matteo Zuppi, who was commissioned by Pope Francis to carry out a peace mission to try to help end the war in Ukraine, traveled to Kiev on Monday (5).

The idea is that the trip lasts until this Tuesday (6) and that the cardinal talks with government authorities. However, a meeting with the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky is uncertain.

Last month, Zuppi was appointed by Pope Francis to lead a peace mission to tackle the war in Ukraine, according to the Holy See’s press office.

The mission aims to contribute “to a relief of tensions in the conflict in Ukraine, in the hope that this can open paths of peace, something never abandoned by the Holy Father”, said Matteo Bruni, director of the office.

The Vatican also reported that the main objective was “to hear attentively the Ukrainian authorities on possible ways to reach a just peace and support gestures humanitarian that can help ease tensions.

After the nomination, the Archbishop of Bologna and president of the Italian Episcopal Conference said that did not envisage mediation in the strict sense of the word, but was ready to “do anything” to help ease tensions.

In May, President Volodymyr Zelensky met with the pope and asked for Vatican support for Kiev’s peace plan. The Ukrainian leader said at the time that he was not open to negotiations.

O plan calls for the restoration of territorial integrity of the country, the withdrawal of Russian troops, the end of hostilities and the restoration of state borders in Ukraine.

In an interview on May 26, the dad skirted the issuesaying that an eventual return of Russia to the occupied territories is a “political problem” to be solved by both sides.

(With information from Delia Gallagher and Barbie Latza of CNN and Reuters)