VATICAN CITY: Volodymyr Zelenskiy, the president of Ukraine, has urged Pope Francis to support Kyiv’s peace plan.
The pope said the Vatican would assist in repatriating Ukrainian children taken by Russians.
Zelenskiy bowed as he met the 86-year-old pope, standing with a cane, saying, “It is a great honour.” Zelenskiy placed his hand over his heart.
Earlier on Saturday, Zelenskiy called on Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni, who pledged to fully support Ukraine’s EU membership application by providing it with both financial and military help.
Zelenskiy, who was in Rome for the first time since the war started, chatted with the pope for 40 minutes, presented him a bulletproof vest that a Ukrainian soldier had worn and subsequently had the Madonna painted on it.
In a statement from the Vatican, it was said that Zelenskiy and the pope had spoken privately about “humanitarian gestures,” which a Vatican source said was in reference to the Vatican’s desire to assist with the return of Ukrainian children.
Kyiv says that nearly 19,500 children had been taken to Russia or Russian-occupied Crimea since February 2022, which it condemned as illegal deportations.
Zelenskiy stated in a subsequent Tweet that he had discussed it with the pope and added, “We must make every effort to return children home.”
Zelenskiy said that he requested the pope “join” the 10-point peace proposal put forward by Kyiv.
It demands that Russia remove its forces and end hostilities and that Ukraine’s state boundaries be restored. It also demands that Ukraine’s territorial integrity be restored. Zelenskiy has reaffirmed time and time again that the proposal is not negotiable.
The pope first attempted to be a peacemaker by adopting a moderate stance, but he eventually started vehemently denouncing Russia’s actions and drawing comparisons to some of the greatest atrocities committed against Ukraine during the Soviet era.
“I requested that the pope denounce Russian actions in Ukraine. Because the victim and the perpetrator cannot be on an equal footing, Zelenskiy wrote in his Tweet.
Francis made an intriguing but perplexing remark about the Vatican becoming involved in a mission to attempt to end the war on April 30 after his return from a trip to Hungary.
“A mission is currently underway, but it has not been made public. I will release it once it is made public,” the pope told reporters on his way home.
Although Zelenskiy later appeared to rule out a mediation outside of Kyiv’s own peace plan in an interview with Italian television, the Vatican statement made no mention of any such mission. Putin knows only killing and there was no need of mediation, Zelensky said.
PLEAS FOR PEACE
Francis has called for peace and expressed his desire to travel to both the capitals of Kyiv and Moscow in order to mediate between the two. His proposal hasn’t resulted in any significant progress so far.
Prior to this, President Sergio Mattarella and Minister Paolo Meloni both reaffirmed Italy’s full support for Ukraine in terms of both immediate and long-term military, budgetary, humanitarian, and rebuilding help.
Russia’s “brutal and unjust aggression” was denounced by Meloni during a news conference. He also vowed Italy’s support for Ukraine for “as long as is necessary” and asked Russia to leave Ukraine immediately.
“You can’t achieve peace through a surrender,” she said. “It would be a very grave precedent for all nations of the world.”
Zelenskiy flew to Rome in an Italian government plane escorted over Italian airspace by fighter jets.
