Pope's special envoy arrives on "peace mission" in Moscow

Pope's Special Envoy, Cardinal Matteo Zuppi. Photo: gettyimages.com

The President of the Italian Bishops' Conference of the RCC, Cardinal Matteo Maria Zuppi, who is responsible for the implementation of the "mission" of the Vatican to end the war in Ukraine, has arrived in the Russian Federation. This is reported by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of the Mother of God in Moscow.

The cardinal arrived in the capital of Russia on the evening of June 27 and stayed at the Apostolic Nunciature of the RCC.

According to the press service of the Vatican, the visit will take place on June 28 and 29, its main goal is "to encourage gestures of humanity that can help find a solution to the current tragic situation and ways to achieve a just peace."

According to Interfax, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that on June 28, Vladimir Putin's aide Yury Ushakov will meet with Matteo Zuppi, who will "discuss [with the papal envoy] the situation around the conflict in Ukraine and possible ways of political and diplomatic settlement."

“We highly appreciate the efforts and initiatives of the Vatican to find a peaceful solution to the Ukrainian crisis and welcome the Pope’s desire to contribute to ending the armed conflict,” Peskov said.

Earlier, Matteo Zuppi said that during his visit to Moscow, he also intends to hold talks with representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church.

As the UOJ reported, on June 5 and 6, Cardinal Zuppi was in Ukraine and met with Volodymyr Zelensky, who called on the Vatican "to contribute to the implementation of the Ukrainian peace plan."

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