Returning to Rome from South Sudan, after his visits to D.R. Congo and South Sudan, Pope Francis met with journalists on the plane, and the first question he was asked, by NBC News, was, “since your calls for peace haven’t been answered,” did he still seek to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, as he had “knelt before leaders of the Global South and begged them to stop fighting each other"? according to the report from NBC News. (https://www.nbcnews.com/video/pope-open-to-meeting-with-putin-zelenskyy-as-ukraine-war-approaches-first-anniversary-162669637758)
Pope Francis replied: “If I have not gone to Kiev, it was because it was not possible at the time to go to Moscow; but I was in dialogue. In fact, on the second day of the war, I went to the Russian Embassy to say that I wanted to go to Moscow to talk to Putin, provided there was a small window to negotiate. Then Minister Lavrov replied that he was considering this but [said], ‘Let’s see later,’ ” according to the Vatican News service transcription of the press dialogue.
