Ukraine’s Zelensky Visits Rome to Meet Pope Francis, Italian Leaders

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived in Rome for a day of meetings with Italian leaders and with Pope Francis, who has offered to serve as an intermediary in negotiations with Moscow but whose refusal to explicitly condemn Russia’s invasion has raised skepticism in Ukraine.

The meeting at the Vatican, planned for Saturday afternoon, comes almost two weeks after the pope said the Vatican was involved in a secret mission for peace. Russia and Ukraine both said they had no knowledge of the effort.