Volodimir Zelensky gave Pope Francis an icon painted on a bulletproof vest
Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelenski met Pope Francis at the Vatican on Saturday, who said in late April that the Holy See was engaged in a peace mission to end the war with Russia, Reuters reports.
"This is a great honour," Zelenski told the Pope, putting his hand to his heart and bowing his head as he greeted the 86-year-old Pontiff.
Earlier on Saturday, Volodimir Zelenski also met Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who pledged full military and financial support for Ukraine and reiterated support for its EU membership bid.
The Ukrainian president, visiting Rome for the first time since the war began, spoke to the Pope for 40 minutes and presented him with a bullet-proof vest that had been used by a Ukrainian soldier and on which an image of Our Lady was later painted.
A Vatican statement on the meeting is to be issued later. Volodimir Zelensky last met the Pope at the Vatican in 2020 and the two have had several phone conversations since the war began. At the beginning of the war, the Pope tried a balanced approach in hopes of being a mediator, but later began strongly condemning Russia's actions, comparing them to some of the worst crimes against Ukraine during the Soviet period.
Returning from a trip to Hungary on April 30, Francis made an intriguing but puzzling comment about the Vatican's involvement in a mission to try to end the war. "There is a mission underway now, but it is not yet public. When it is public, I will reveal it," he told reporters.
Pope Francis met this week with Russia's ambassador to the Vatican, Alexander Avdeiev, and Italian newspaper Il Messaggero reported that the Vatican may have handed the diplomat a letter for Russian President Vladimir Putin.
