Pope Francis says he is ready to come to Kyiv only if he visits Moscow
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Pope Francis has once again stated that he is ready to visit Kyiv, but on the condition that he goes to Moscow, RIA Novosti reports.
The agency quotes the pontiff: “I will go to both cities or neither.”
Earlier it was reported that the Pope said that he was still ready for contacts with the Russian leadership to resolve the Ukrainian crisis.
In an interview with the Corriere della Sera newspaper and other Italian media, the pontiff answered the question of what he would talk about with Vladimir Putin.
“I would speak to him, articulate my thoughts as I do in public,” Francis said.
“He is an educated person,” he described Putin.
At the same time, Francis said that on February 25, 2022, he visited the Russian embassy in the Vatican, “to announce that he is ready to come to Moscow, provided that Putin leaves me a window for settlement negotiations.”
In response, according to the Pope, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov wrote to him, “expressing gratitude, but explaining that the moment for negotiations had not come.”
He also added: “Putin knows that I am at his disposal,” referring to negotiations with the President of the Russian Federation.
Francis has repeatedly stated that his trip to Kyiv, where he was repeatedly invited by the leadership of Ukraine, is possible only if he visits Moscow too.
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