Ukraine’s Zelensky meets Pope Francis as he continues to push his ‘victory plan’

Pope Francis met Volodymyr Zelensky at the Vatican on Friday, the latest step on the Ukrainian president’s European tour to win support for his proposed “victory plan” aimed at ending the war with Russia.

The pope and the Ukrainian leader held private talks for 35 minutes. After their private meeting at the Sala della Biblioteca and the presentation of the Ukrainian delegation, Francis gave Zelensky a bronze plaque depicting a flower and an inscription reading: “Peace is a fragile flower.”

In turn, Zelensky gifted the pontiff with an oil painting portraying “The massacre of Bucha. The story of Marichka.”

Bucha, a suburb northwest of Kyiv, was occupied by Russian troops shortly after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and witnessed some of Russia’s worst atrocities against civilians.

Later Friday, Zelensky met the Vatican’s secretary of state, Pietro Parolin, accompanied by Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, secretary for relations with states and international organizations.

“The discussions were dedicated to the state of the war and the humanitarian situation in Ukraine, as well as the ways in which it could be brought to an end, leading to just and stable peace in the country,” the Vatican said in a statement, adding that “some matters relating to the religious life of the country were also examined.”

Since the first Russian attack on Kyiv, there have been multiple contacts between Francis and Zelensky, through visits, letters and phone calls.

The pope sparked some criticism from Ukrainian leaders in March when he suggested they should have the courage of the “white flag” negotiating an end to the war with Russia, in what was intepreted by many as a call to surrender.

Francis has repeatedly and strongly for an end to the war, focusing on prisoner exchanges and on reaching a diplomatic solution to the Ukrainian conflict.

Cardinal Matteo Maria Zuppi was sent as a special envoy on a mission to ease tensions among the parties at war, meeting with political and ecclesiastical leaders around the world.

His mission was, in particular, to encourage exchanges of Russian and Ukrainian prisoners and to find a way to facilitate the return of children forcibly deported from Ukraine to Russia.

Zelensky is city-hopping across Europe to promote a plan that he said “aims to create the right conditions for a just end to the war” against Russia, unveiling the proposals to European allies after a summit with President Joe Biden was derailed by Hurricane Milton.

On Thursday, Zelensky met with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer in London, French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris and Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni in Rome.

He is expected to travel to Germany later on Friday to hold talks with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

The Ukrainian leader has yet to publicly detail his proposals for “victory.” But the timing of his efforts to lock in European support appear to have the looming U.S. election in mind. Former President Donald Trump has long been critical of U.S. aid to Kyiv.

Ukraine’s stretched and short-handed army is currently under heavy pressure in the country’s eastern Donetsk region. Russian forces recently pushed it out of the Donetsk town of Vuhledar and are now in control of about half of nearby Toretsk, local administration chief Vasyl Chynchyk said Friday. To stop the losses, Zelensky needs to secure more help.