Ukraines Zelenskyy meets Pope Francis as he continues to push his victory plan
Pope Francis met Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the Vatican on Friday, the latest step on the Ukrainian president’s European tour to win support for his proposed “victory plan” aimed at ending the war with Russia.The pope and the Ukrainian leader held private talks for 35 minutes.After their private meeting at the Sala della Biblioteca and the presentation of the Ukrainian delegation, Francis gave Zelenskyy a bronze plaque depicting a flower and an inscription reading: “Peace is a fragile flower.”In turn, Zelenskyy gifted the pontiff with an oil painting portraying “The massacre of Bucha.
The story of Marichka.” Bucha, a suburb northwest of Kyiv, was occupied by Russian troops shortly after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and witnessed some of Russia’s worst atrocities against civilians.Later Friday, Zelenskyy met the Vatican’s secretary of state, Pietro Parolin, accompanied by Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, secretary for relations with states and international organizations.“The discussions were dedicated to the state of the war and the humanitarian situation in Ukraine, as well as the ways in which it could be brought to an end, leading to just and stable peace in the country,” the Vatican said in a statement, adding that “some matters relating to the religious life of the country were also examined.”Since the first Russian attack on Kyiv, there have been multiple contacts between Francis and Zelenskyy, through visits, letters and phone calls.The pope sparked some criticism from Ukrainian leaders in March when he suggested they should have the courage of the “white flag” negotiating an end to the war with Russia, in what was intepreted by many as a call to surrender.Francis has repeatedly and strongly for an end to the war, focusing on prisoner exchanges and on reaching a diplomatic solution to the Ukrainian conflict.Cardinal Matteo Maria Zuppi was sent as a special envoy on a mission to ease tensions among the ...