On Wednesday, the Kremlin announced that Pope Francis’ envoy would meet with President Vladimir Putin’s advisor in Moscow, as Russia “welcomed” the Vatican’s peace efforts in Ukraine.
Cardinal Matteo Maria Zuppi arrived in Russia on Tuesday, the first such visit since Putin dispatched troops to Ukraine in February 2022.
High-ranking Catholic clerics are rarely seen in Moscow, which has never been visited by the Pope.
Zuppi’s visit comes after he met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv a few weeks ago.
“We highly value the efforts and initiatives of the Vatican in looking for a peaceful solution to the Ukrainian crisis,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. “We welcome them.”
He stated that Zuppi was scheduled to meet with Putin’s foreign policy advisor, Yuri Ushakov.
The Vatican stated that Zuppi’s visit was intended to “encourage gestures of humanity, which can help promote a solution to the current tragic situation and find ways to achieve a just peace.”
Zuppi’s meeting with Zelensky in early June concluded without much progress, although Kyiv suggested the cleric may aid in the repatriation of Ukrainian prisoners of war and minors detained in Russia during the offensive.
The 67-year-old Italian cardinal is a member of the Sant’Egidio Catholic Community, which focuses on diplomacy and peacemaking.
During the war, both Kiev and Moscow have criticized Pope Francis.
This week, a Russian Roman Catholic priest, Nikolay Dubinin, told state media that Zuppi “hoped” to meet Patriarch Kirill, but the Russian Orthodox Church declined to confirm this.
Kirill is a fervent backer of Putin’s Ukrainian offensive, which he has referred to as “holy.”
On Thursday evening, Zuppi was scheduled to attend a mass at Moscow’s major Catholic cathedral.
Spiritual relations between the Vatican and Moscow remain chilly almost a thousand years after a schism split the faiths.
