He Pope Francis will meet with the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyon Friday morning, the Vatican reported.
In addition, the Ukrainian president affirmed that he has the “leadership” of the president of the United States, Joe Biden, to advance in the three months remaining in his mandate towards a peace acceptable to kyiv, which prevent war from extending beyond 2025.
Pope Francis last saw the Ukrainian president on the sidelines of the Group of Seven (G7) summit held this summer in southern Italy. Both They also met at the Vatican in December 2023.
Zelensky would also hold talks with the Italian prime minister, Giorgia Meloniduring his stay in Rome this week.
The Holy Father drew the ire of Ukrainian officials in March when he suggested they should have the courage to raise the “white flag” to negotiate an end to the war with Russiafollowing the large-scale invasion of Moscow in February 2022.
I have arrived in Croatia to meet with Prime Minister @AndrejPlenkovic and representatives of other countries in the region, and to participate in the third Ukraine–South East Europe Summit.
With Prime Minister Plenković, we will discuss further defense cooperation,… pic.twitter.com/OXMWpl38md
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) October 9, 2024
Zelensky called the Supreme Pontiff’s statements “virtual mediation” from a distance.
Francis recently announced that will appoint a bishop of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church as one of the 21 new Catholic cardinals, during a ceremony to be held on December 8.
Ukraine bets on US leadership
“In October, November and December we have a real opportunity to move towards peace and towards lasting stability,” Zelensky said during the opening of a summit in the Croatian city of Dubrovnik in which he meets with leaders from thirteen countries in Southeast Asia. Europe, including Türkiye.
The Ukrainian head of state called on his allies to act “decisively to end the war no later than 2025.”
Used by Andrey Plenkovic.
Оборонна допомога і співпраця, гуманітарне розмінування, реабілітація наших дітей і поранених воїнів, відбудова України, наша європейська теграція стали темами наших переговорів.
They also used the product for… pic.twitter.com/95rDkqMU4X
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) October 9, 2024
“We count on the leadership of President Biden, we count on the firm and correct steps of the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Italy to bring security and peace to Europe, and we count on all of you,” said Zelensky, addressing the leaders present.
The Ukrainian president acknowledged that “the question remains how to force Russia to make peace” and to accept the so-called Peace Formula, a list of proposals from kyiv among which the complete withdrawal of Russian forces from Ukrainian territory.
Zelensky and other Ukrainian leaders have bluntly repeated that They will not accept another peace plan.
In this sense, the Ukrainian president recalled that at the end of September he presented his Victory Plan to Biden, in which he asks the United States and the rest of its allies for decisive measures that would change the correlation of forces on the military and political fronts and would force Russia to sit down to negotiate on kyiv’s terms.
Очевидна нашу ППО так, щоб унемож ливити цей російський терор. Усюди, де це потрібно.
Важиво, щоб велиі країни, я мають необхідну зброю, сравді би великими в захисті життя – н н н ж ддах чи зберіанні, а щоб… pic.twitter.com/2RqO0hD8pd
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) October 8, 2024
Zelensky explained that the plan calls for guaranteeing Ukraine’s future entry into NATOsomething that Alliance countries have avoided doing until now.
“Inviting Ukraine to NATO, Ukraine’s future membership, would be a real step towards peace; Without geopolitical certainty, peace is impossible,” stressed Zelensky, who said that if his country enters the Alliance, Russia will have lost in the geopolitical sphere.
The host of the summit, Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic, supported Zelensky’s peace plan.
In this meeting heads of state participate and government or foreign ministers of Slovenia, Kosovo, Montenegro, Greece, Bulgaria, Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Serbia, Moldova, Romania and Turkey.
According to Serbian media, support for Zelensky’s peace plan has fallen from the joint declaration expected to be approved due to the insistence of Serbia, a country that aspires to enter the European Union but it has close ties with Russia.
This is the third summit of this type, after those held in 2022 in Greece and Albania, and the first visit of the Ukrainian president to Croatia.
SNGZ
