Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi held talks with Pope Francis in the Vatican on Saturday, who announced at the end of April that the Holy See is participating in a peacekeeping mission to end the war with Russia, Reuters reports. During the meeting, the Ukrainian president presented the Pope with an icon of the Holy Mother of God painted on a body armor.

Volodymyr Zelenskyi and Pope FrancisPhoto: ABACA / Shutterstock Editorial / Profimedia

“It’s a great honor,” Zelensky told Francis, putting his hand over his heart and bowing his head as he greeted the 86-year-old Pope, according to a short video of the meeting.

Earlier on Saturday, Zelensky also met with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who promised full military and financial support to Ukraine and confirmed support for its aspiration to join the EU.

Zelenskyi, who visited Rome for the first time since the beginning of the war, spoke with the Pope for 40 minutes and presented him with a bulletproof vest, which was a Ukrainian military one, and then painted with the image of the Virgin Mary.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CIESC25hC6Y

“The Pope gave assurances of constant prayer, as evidenced by his numerous public appeals and continuous appeals to God for peace, starting from February of last year,” the press service of the Vatican said during the meeting with Zelenskyi, according to CNN.

“Both agreed on the need to continue humanitarian efforts to support the population,” he added.

Zelenskyi last met with the Pope at the Vatican in 2020, and they have had several phone conversations since the start of the war.

At the beginning of the war, the Pope tried to take a measured approach in the hope of mediating, but later he began to strongly condemn Russia’s actions, comparing them to some of the worst crimes against Ukraine during the Soviet era.

Vatican Peace Mission

Returning from a trip to Hungary on April 30, Francis made an intriguing but unclear comment about the Vatican’s involvement in the mission to end the war. “The mission is being carried out now, but it has not been made public yet. When it is made public, I will reveal it,” he told reporters on the flight home.

  • The Pope met with a second Church in Moscow after his inexplicable comment about the “mission” of peace

Francis met with Russia’s ambassador to the Vatican, Alexander Avdeev, this week, and Italian newspaper Il Messaggero reported that the Vatican had sent him a letter for Russian President Vladimir Putin.

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