The Ukrainian president, Volodimir Zelenskywas received this Friday the 11th by papa Francisco at the Vatican as part of his brief visit to several Western European capitals, where he hopes to gain more support against the Russian invasion.
It is the second private audience that Zelensky has had in the Vatican with the pope, after held in May 2023which lasted 40 minutes.
According to Francisco’s official agenda, no statement to the press is planned after the meeting.
Zelensky is also expected to meet a diplomatic delegation from Santa Beled by Italian Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Secretary of State and number two in the Vatican.
The last meeting between the two took place in June this year, during the G7 summit, in southeastern Italy. Since the start of the Russian invasion in February 2022, Francis has multiplied calls for peace, without success and with occasional friction with Kiev.
In March, Jorge Bergoglio triggered a diplomatic crisis between Kiev and the Vatican by calling on Ukraine to “raise the white flag and negotiate”.
Tour of European capitals
Zelensky tours the capitals of Western Europe to renew support for his country against the Russian invasion.
The Ukrainian president stated that the objective is not to talk about a possible ceasefire with Russia, but rather to present his “victory plan” to his allies, of which he did not give details.
The objective is “to create the conditions for a just end to the war”, he declared on Thursday, cited in a statement from his office. “Ukraine can only negotiate from a strong position,” he added.
On Thursday, the president met in London with the British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in Paris with the French President Emmanuel Macron and in Rome with the Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
This Friday, after meetings in the Vatican, he will go to Berlin to speak with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, whose government intends to halve the amount allocated to bilateral military aid to Ukraine in 2025.
The Ukrainian Army faces difficulties on the eastern front, where the Russian Army has not stopped advancing in recent months.
Zelensky is also worried about the US presidential elections in November.
A victory for Republican Donald Trump against Democrat Kamala Harris could put at risk the military and financial support that the United States has provided to Ukraine since the start of the Russian invasion in February 2022.
