Pope Francis' peace envoy to visit Moscow this week
The Vatican announced on Tuesday that Italian Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, appointed by Pope Francis to undertake a peace mission with the goal of resolving the conflict in Ukraine, is scheduled to visit Moscow this week. This visit to Moscow serves as a follow-up to his previous trip to Kyiv, as part of his efforts to foster dialogue and work towards ending the war in Ukraine.
- Diplomacy
- Reuters
- Published Date: 02:05 | 27 June 2023
- Modified Date: 02:05 | 27 June 2023
Italian Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, tasked by Pope Francis to carry out a peace mission to try to help end the war in Ukraine, will visit Moscow this week as a follow up to his trip to Kyiv, the Vatican said on Tuesday.
A statement said Zuppi would be in the Russian capital on Wednesday and Thursday.
"The main purpose of the initiative is to encourage gestures of humanity, which can contribute to facilitating a solution to the current tragic situation and find ways to achieve a just peace," it said.
It was not clear who Zuppi would meet in Moscow. He met religious leaders as well as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on June 6.
If Zuppi, 67, meets Russian President Vladimir Putin, he would be one of the first foreigners to do so since the aborted mutiny against the Russian military over the weekend.
A Vatican source said Zuppi's trip had been at risk of being called off because of the attempted mutiny and the confusion surrounding it.