Extract from ABC News
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has asked Pope Francis to back Kyiv's peace plan, with the pope indicating the Vatican would help in the repatriation of Ukrainian children taken by Russians.
Key points:
- The Ukrainian president visited Rome to meet with Prime Minister Girogia Meloni and Pope Francis
- Mr Zelenskyy says he discussed the repatriation of Ukrainian children and asked the pope to support Kyiv's 10-point peace plan
- An independent Russian news outlet says two Russian fighter jets and two helicopters had been shot down in the Bryansk region, near Ukraine's border
"It is a great honour," Mr Zelenskyy told Francis, putting his hand to his heart and bowing his head as he greeted the 86-year-old pope, who stood with a cane.
Earlier on Saturday, Mr Zelenskyy met Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who promised full military and financial backing for Ukraine and reiterated support for its EU membership bid.
Mr Zelenskyy, who was visiting Rome for the first time since the war began, spoke with the pope for 40 minutes and presented him with a bulletproof vest that had been used by a Ukrainian soldier and later painted with an image of the Madonna.
A Vatican statement said that in their private talks, Mr Zelenskyy and the pope discussed "humanitarian gestures", which a Vatican source said was a reference to the Vatican's willingness to help with the repatriation of Ukrainian children.
Kyiv estimates nearly 19,500 children have been taken to Russia or Russian-occupied Crimea since February 2022, in what it condemns as illegal deportations.
"We must make every effort to return them home," Mr Zelenskyy said in a Tweet afterwards, saying he had discussed it with the pope.
Mr Zelenskyy also said he asked the pope to "join" Kyiv's 10-point peace plan.
It calls for restoring Ukraine's territorial integrity, the withdrawal of Russian troops and cessation of hostilities, and the restoration of Ukraine's state borders. Mr Zelenskyy has repeatedly said the plan is not open to negotiation.
At the start of the war, the pope tried to take a balanced approach in hopes of being a mediator but later began forcefully condemning Russia's actions, comparing them to some of the worst crimes against Ukraine during the Soviet era.
"I asked [the pope] to condemn Russian crimes in Ukraine. Because there can be no equality between the victim and the aggressor," Mr Zelenskyy said in his Tweet.
Returning from a trip to Hungary on April 30, Francis made an intriguing but puzzling comment about the Vatican being involved in a mission to try to end the war.
"There is a mission in course now but it is not yet public. When it is public, I will reveal it," he told reporters during his flight home.
But the Vatican statement made no mention of any such mission.
Italy reaffirms full support for Ukraine
Francis has pleaded for peace practically on a weekly basis, and has repeatedly expressed a wish to act as a broker between Kyiv and Moscow by visiting both capitals. His offer has so far failed to produce any breakthrough.
Earlier, both Ms Meloni and President Sergio Mattarella reiterated Italy's full support for Ukraine in terms of military, financial, humanitarian and reconstruction aid in the short and long term.
At a news conference, Ms Meloni condemned Russia's "brutal and unjust aggression", pledged Italy's support for Ukraine for "as long as is necessary" and urged Russia to immediately withdraw.
"You can't achieve peace through a surrender," she said.
"It would be a very grave precedent for all nations of the world."
She emphasised Italy's support for Ukraine's membership of the European Union and the "intensification" of a partnership with NATO.
Mr Zelenskyy flew to Rome on an Italian government plane that was escorted over Italian airspace by fighter jets.
He is due to visit Berlin on Sunday, German government sources told Reuters on Saturday.
Russian military aircraft shot down near Ukraine
Meanwhile, on the war front, two Russian fighter jets and two military helicopters had been shot down close to the Ukrainian border, Russian news outlet Kommersant said on Saturday.
Kommersant, a respected, independent business-focused daily, said on its website that the Su-34 fighter-bomber, Su-35 fighter and two Mi-8 helicopters had made up a raiding party, and had been "shot down almost simultaneously" in an ambush in the Bryansk region, adjoining north-east Ukraine.
"According to preliminary data … the fighters were supposed to deliver a missile and bomb attack on targets in the Chernihiv region of Ukraine, and the helicopters were there to back them up — among other things to pick up the 'Su' crews if they were shot down."
The Russian state news agency TASS said a Russian Su-34 warplane had crashed in that region but did not specify a cause.
TASS also cited an emergency services official as saying an engine fire in a helicopter had caused it to crash near Klintsy, which is about 40 kilometres from the border. It made no mention of the Su-35, or of a second helicopter.
However, a video posted on the Russian pro-war Telegram channel Voyenniy Osvedomitel, which has about half a million followers, showed a helicopter high in the sky suffering an explosion, being thrown off course and then plunging towards the ground in flames.
Comments accompanying the video, which Reuters could not immediately verify, said it showed a Mi-8 being shot down by a missile. Other images posted by the channel showed wreckage in an agricultural field.
Kommersant provided no evidence for its report that four aircraft had been downed, but the same assertion was also made by several heavily followed pro-war military bloggers.
The Moscow Defence Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Voyenniy Osvedomitel said it appeared that "most likely, the enemy staged an ambush with air defences previously transferred to a border zone close enough to hit our group".
It said the downed helicopters appeared to be Mi-8MTPR-1 electronic warfare craft able to jam enemy radio and targeting signals. Kommersant said all four crews had been killed.
There was no official response from Ukraine, which usually declines to comment on reports of attacks inside Russia.
However, in a tweet, Mykhailo Podolyak, a senior adviser to Mr Zelenskyy, called the incident "Justice … and instant karma".
Reuters
No comments:
Post a Comment