Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived in Rome for a day of meetings with Italian leaders and with Pope Francis, who has offered to serve as an intermediary in negotiations with Moscow but whose refusal to explicitly condemn Russia’s invasion has raised skepticism in Ukraine.
The meeting at the Vatican, planned for Saturday afternoon, comes almost two weeks after the pope said the Vatican was involved in a secret mission for peace. Russia and Ukraine both said they had no knowledge of the effort.
U.S. and European officials have said that the conditions for potential negotiations between Kyiv and Moscow could come about after Ukraine’s planned offensive in the coming months. Ukraine is aiming to take back some of the territories occupied by Russia since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion in early 2022.
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