VATICAN CITY – President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and First Lady Olena Zelenska of Ukraine had an audience with Pope Francis at the Vatican on February 8.
The Ukrainian president stressed the important role that the Holy See could play in bringing peace to the Ukrainian land. “The main thing we talked about is peace. He even called me ‘president of peace’ – this is my image in Europe now,” Mr. Zelenskyy said after the audience.
According to Mr. Zelenskyy, it is important that the meeting with Pope Francis took place two months after the Paris summit held in the Normandy format and before the next scheduled meeting of the four countries – France, Germany, Ukraine and Russia – in Berlin.
“I urged Pope Francis to help with the release of Ukrainians held in the Donbas, Crimea and Russia,” Mr. Zelenskyy reported. He added that he and the pontiff also discussed humanitarian initiatives to help children and protect the environment.
“I am extremely grateful to His Holiness for the ‘Pope for Ukraine’ initiative, which helped 900,000 Ukrainians who had suffered in the Donbas,” Mr. Zelenskyy said.
The president also emphasized that Ukrainian Churches played an extremely important role in spreading the truth and in the development of society.
Mr. Zelenskyy said Pope Francis is very much welcome in Ukraine, where he enjoys extremely high support and trust. “I invited him to Ukraine. I am sure he will be in Ukraine – not only in the capital. I said that in order to fully understand what was happening in the east, it was necessary to go to the east,” he related.