Pope Confirms Cardinal Zuppi As Mediator In Ukrainian Conflict

VATICAN CITY (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 21st May, 2023) Pope Francis has officially tasked Cardinal Matteo Zuppi with leading a mission that will seek to broker a truce between parties to the Ukrainian conflict, his spokesperson said on Saturday.

"I can confirm that Pope Francis has entrusted Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, Archbishop of Bologna and President of the Italian Bishops' Conference, with the responsibility of leading a mission... that contributes to an easing of tensions in the Ukraine conflict," Matteo Bruni said.

The director of the Holy See press office told reporters in the Vatican City that the pontiff hoped the mission would "initiate paths of peace."

Il Sismografo, a news website that specializes in stories about the Holy See, reported this week that Russia and Ukraine had agreed in principle to receive papal envoys.

Cardinal Matteo Zuppi was reportedly picked to go to Kiev, while Archbishop Claudio Gugerotti was tentatively named as the pontiff's envoy to Moscow.

The Catholic leader told his press pool on a flight from Budapest to Rome in late April that a mission was underway to find a "path to peace" in Ukraine, although he said the effort was not public yet.

Russia has repeatedly said it is open for peace talks as long as facts on the ground were considered. This is despite the fact that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has outright banned his officials from engaging in such negotiations with Moscow.