Pope Francis met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Vatican on Friday morning for the second time within four months, reports News.bg. The two held private talks at the Vatican's Apostolic Palace after also seeing each other during the Group of Seven (G7) summit in southern Italy this summer.
Zelensky is on a diplomatic tour of Europe this week to present his "plan for victory" before the leaders of Great Britain, France, Italy, Germany and the head of NATO. According to Western officials and Zelensky himself, the war with Russia is in a decisive phase and Ukraine needs additional support to change the balance of the battlefield and prepare for possible peace talks.
Despite cooperation between the Vatican and Kiev, in March the Pope angered Ukrainian officials by proposing to fly the "white flag" and to negotiate with Russia. Then Zelensky categorically rejected this proposal as "virtual mediation".
Francis also criticized Ukrainian lawmakers for plans to ban the Russian-linked branch of the Orthodox Church, which has been accused of spreading pro-Russian propaganda.
The Pope also met with the leader of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, Archbishop Svyatoslav Shevchuk, who is in Rome for the meeting of world bishops. Shevchuk shared that he informed the Pope about the disasters of the war and the winter challenges facing Ukraine.