VATICAN CITY – Italian Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, tasked by Pope Francis to hold out a peace mission to attempt to assist finish the warfare in Ukraine, headed to Kyiv on Monday for a two-day journey to sound out authorities authorities.
The Vatican introduced his go to, which many observers see as an uphill effort, in a brief assertion.
It stated the primary function was “to listen carefully to Ukrainian authorities on the possible ways to reach a just peace and support humanitarian gestures that may help ease tensions”.
It was not clear if Zuppi, who’s archbishop of Bologna and head of the Italian Bishops Conference, would meet President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
Zelenskiy met the pope on the Vatican on May 13 and later appeared cool to the prospects of any papal initiative that may put Ukraine on an equal footing with Russia, which invaded its neighbor on Feb. 24, 2022.
Zuppi, 67, instructed reporters final month that he didn’t foresee a mediation within the strict sense of the phrase however that he was able to “do anything” to assist ease tensions.
“We can’t watch a war without at least saying that we are close to the victims and seeking in every way possible to alleviate the consequences,” he stated.
At the assembly in May, Zelenskiy requested the pope to again Kyiv’s peace plan, which Zelenskiy has repeatedly stated is just not open to negotiation.
The plan requires restoring Ukraine’s territorial integrity, the withdrawal of Russian troops and cessation of hostilities, and the restoration of Ukraine’s state borders.
In an interview on May 26, the pope skirted the difficulty, saying an eventual return by Russia of occupied territories is a “political problem” to be resolved by each side.
Diplomats have stated that Ukraine would even be cool to the concept of placing a gathering between Zuppi and Zelenskiy and an eventual one between Zuppi and Russian President Vladimir Putin on the identical aircraft.
“There can be no equality between the victim and the aggressor,” Zelenskiy stated after his May 13 assembly with the pope.
The Vatican assertion’s point out of “humanitarian gestures” on Monday seemed to be a reference to Kyiv’s request – and the Vatican’s willingness – to assist with the repatriation of Ukrainian kids.
Kyiv estimates almost 19,500 kids have been taken to Russia or Russian-occupied Crimea since February 2022, in what it condemns as unlawful deportations.
Zuppi hails from the Sant’ Egidio Community, a Rome-based peace and justice group which has been instrumental in a number of peace negotiations, notably in Africa.
In 1992, the group brokered a deal that ended the civil warfare in Mozambique that had killed about 1,000,000 folks and displaced about 4 million. — Reuters
Source: www.gmanetwork.com
