2023-05-13 20:37:30
- Sofia Pettiza in Rome and Laura Gozzi in London
- BBC News
Pope Francis told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that he constantly prays for peace, after they met privately at the Vatican.
The pope stressed urgent help for “the most vulnerable, the innocent victims” of the invasion launched by Russia last year.
Zelensky met early on with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who assured him of Rome’s support for Ukraine’s territorial integrity.
More than a thousand police were deployed and a no-fly zone was imposed over Rome as part of a wide security operation to secure the visit.
The Holy See issued a statement on Saturday saying that Pope Francis and President Zelensky, in a meeting that lasted about 40 minutes, “discussed the humanitarian and political situation in Ukraine as a result of the ongoing war”.
He added that both sides “agreed on the need to continue humanitarian efforts to support the population.”
“The pope reaffirmed his constant prayers and appeals to the Lord for peace – since last February,” the date of the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the statement said.
image copyright Archyde.com
Pope Francis has said repeatedly that the Vatican is ready to act as a mediator in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
He stated earlier this month that the Vatican was working on a peace plan to end the war, saying the mission “is not public yet. When it becomes public, I will talk about it.”
But the relationship between Ukraine and the Vatican has been troubled at times.
A few months after the outbreak of war in Ukraine, the Pope said in an interview that the invasion of Moscow “may have been provoked in some way”.
And last August, the Ukrainian ambassador to the Vatican took the unusual step of criticizing the pope after he referred to Daria Dugina, the daughter of a Russian ultranationalist killed by a car bomb, as an “innocent” casualty of the war.
On Saturday morning, Zelensky met his counterpart, Italian President Sergio Mattarella, and Prime Minister Meloni for a working lunch.
Italy has historically had close relations with Moscow.
Former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, leader of the conservative Forza Italia party, was a friend of Vladimir Putin. They took trips together and exchanged Christmas gifts.
Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini has repeatedly expressed pro-Russian sentiments and criticized military assistance to Ukraine.
President Zelensky is not expected to meet Salvini or Berlusconi during his visit.
image copyright EPA
President Zelensky arrived in Rome on Saturday morning amid a massive security operation
In a press conference after his meeting with Giorgia Meloni, Zelensky called on “all Italian political leaders and representatives of civil society” to visit Ukraine.
They will be able to “watch what one person can do to us, what Putin can do to us, and you will understand why we are fighting this evil,” he said.
Meloni stressed that the war will stop only when Russia stops its “brutal and unjust aggression” and withdraws all Ukrainian lands.
She pledged Italy’s support to Ukraine “as long as it is necessary.”
Meanwhile, the German government unveiled the largest military aid package to Ukraine to date, worth 2.7 billion euros. President Zelensky’s adviser, Mykhailo Podolyak, said the aid indicated that Russia was “doomed to lose and to sit on the seat of historical shame”.
German media reported earlier this week that President Zelensky plans to visit Germany after visiting Italy, but that has not yet been confirmed.
The visit comes after Russia carried out a new wave of airstrikes on Kiev and other Ukrainian cities overnight. More than 20 people were injured in the city of Khmelnytskyi, in western Ukraine. Infrastructure, homes and government buildings were damaged.
And it was reported that the explosions took place on Friday in the Russian-occupied city of Luhansk, which is about 90 km behind the battle front in eastern Ukraine. Russian-backed separatist forces in the region have accused Kiev of using Storm Shadow missiles, which the UK said it supplied to Ukraine earlier this week.
There were other reports of new explosions in Luhansk on Saturday.
A helicopter crashed in the Russian Bryansk region on the border with Ukraine, injuring a woman. In the footage released on social media, it was claimed that an S-24 warplane also crashed in the area on Saturday although the videos were not verified.
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