Pope Francis Wants To Visit Both Kiev And Moscow

Pope Francis said on Monday that he would not go to the Ukrainian capital of Kiev without visiting Russia's Moscow as well

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 28th November, 2022) Pope Francis said on Monday that he would not go to the Ukrainian capital of Kiev without visiting Russia's Moscow as well.

"I also thought of traveling, but I made the decision: If I travel, I go to Moscow and to Kyiv, to both, not to one place only," the pontiff told Jesuit magazine America.

Pope Francis stated that after the beginning of the Russian special military operation in Ukraine in February, he expressed his readiness to visit Russia but received a letter from Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov saying that there was no need for such a visit yet.

During his pastoral trip to Bahrain earlier in November, Pope Francis confessed his love for the Russian and Ukrainian peoples and confirmed that the Holy See is "doing what it has to do" to peacefully resolve the Ukrainian crisis. He also repeatedly urged people to pray for peace in Ukraine.