https://sputnikglobe.com/20230513/pope-francis-receives-ukraines-zelensky-in-vatican-1110330065.html
Pope Francis Receives Ukraine's Zelensky in Vatican
Pope Francis Receives Ukraine's Zelensky in Vatican
Sputnik International
Pope Francis had a 40-minute audience in the Vatican with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who arrived in Rome earlier on Saturday, the Holy See said.
2023-05-13T18:05+0000
2023-05-13T18:05+0000
2023-05-13T18:57+0000
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Journalists accredited at the Vatican learned that the meeting took place not in the Apostolic Palace, where the pontiff receives heads of state and government who arrive on official visits, but in the Paul VI Audience Hall, which is usually used for general audiences. A source at the Holy See told Sputnik earlier that the visit was private and had been agreed at the last minute. Zelensky and Pope Francis discussed issues concerning the humanitarian and political situation in Ukraine during the 40-minute audience, according to the Holy See press office. "Both agreed on the need to continue humanitarian efforts to support the population. The Pope particularly stressed the urgent need for 'gestures of humanity' towards the most vulnerable people, the innocent victims of the conflict," the statement said, adding that the pontiff "pledged his constant prayers, evidenced by his numerous public appeals and continuous invocation to the Lord for peace, since February last year."Pope Francis thanked Zelensky for the visit, while the latter responded that it was a great honor for him to meet the Catholic leader. They also exchanged presents, with the Ukrainian president gifting an icon of Our Lady painted on a fragment of a bulletproof vest, while the pontiff gave a bronze sculpture of an olive branch. It was Zelensky's second visit to the Vatican since taking office in 2019. After his first meeting with Pope Francis in 2020, the president stressed he was "inspired by the discussion on peace in Ukraine" and invited the pontiff to Kiev. Earlier on Saturday, Zelensky met with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and President Sergio Mattarella.Meloni said that Rome will support Kiev when it decides that the time has come to start peace negotiations with Moscow."We support a diplomatic solution to the conflict and will lend Kiev all support it needs when it decides that conditions are right for launching any kind of negotiations," she said after a meeting with the visiting Ukrainian president.Zelensky told a press conference he had raised his government's "peace formula" and military cooperation during the meeting with the right-wing Italian prime minister. He said they discussed "very important solutions" for bolstering Ukrainian air defenses.
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Pope Francis Receives Ukraine's Zelensky in Vatican
18:05 GMT 13.05.2023 (Updated: 18:57 GMT 13.05.2023) VATICAN CITY (Sputnik) - Pope Francis had a 40-minute audience in the Vatican with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who arrived in Rome earlier on Saturday, the Holy See said.
Journalists accredited at the Vatican learned that the meeting took place not in the Apostolic Palace, where the pontiff receives heads of state and government who arrive on official visits, but in the Paul VI Audience Hall, which is usually used for general audiences. A source at the Holy See told Sputnik earlier that the visit was private and had been agreed at the last minute.
Zelensky and Pope Francis discussed issues concerning the humanitarian and political
situation in Ukraine during the 40-minute audience, according to the Holy See press office.
"Both agreed on the need to continue humanitarian efforts to support the population. The Pope particularly stressed the urgent need for 'gestures of humanity' towards the most vulnerable people, the innocent victims of the conflict," the statement said, adding that the pontiff "pledged his constant prayers, evidenced by his numerous public appeals and continuous invocation to the Lord for peace, since February last year."
Pope Francis thanked Zelensky for the visit, while the latter responded that it was a great honor for him to meet the Catholic leader. They also exchanged presents, with the Ukrainian president gifting an icon of Our Lady painted on a fragment of a bulletproof vest, while the pontiff gave a bronze sculpture of an olive branch.
It was Zelensky's second visit to the Vatican since taking office in 2019. After his first meeting with Pope Francis in 2020, the president stressed he was "inspired by the discussion on peace in Ukraine" and invited the pontiff to Kiev.
Earlier on Saturday,
Zelensky met with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and President Sergio Mattarella.
Meloni said that Rome will support Kiev when it decides that the time has come to start peace negotiations with Moscow.
"We support a diplomatic solution to the conflict and will lend Kiev all support it needs when it decides that conditions are right for launching any kind of negotiations," she said after a meeting with the visiting Ukrainian president.
Zelensky told a press conference he had raised his government's "peace formula" and military cooperation during the meeting with the right-wing Italian prime minister. He said they discussed "very important solutions" for bolstering Ukrainian air defenses.
