Pope Francis willing to meet Ukraine leaders to discuss possible visit to war-torn country

On June 4, Pope Francis announced that he would meet with Ukrainian officials soon to discuss the prospect of a visit to their country. Pope Francis expressed his desire to go to the war-torn nation during a question-and-answer session with roughly 160 school children from across Italy as part of the Children's Train programme.

A Ukrainian refugee boy asked the Pope if he could go to Ukraine and save all the children who are now suffering there. "Can you come to Ukraine to save all the children who are suffering there now?" a Ukrainian boy named Sachar requested. The 85-year-old Pope, who uses a wheelchair due to knee discomfort, said that he often thought of Ukrainian kids and wished to visit the nation but needed to find the proper time.

The Pope said, "It is not easy to make a decision that could do more harm than good to the rest of the world. I have to find the right moment to do it. Next week I will receive representatives of the Ukrainian government, who will come here to talk, to talk even about an eventual visit of mine there. We'll see what happens."

The Russia-Ukraine war has compelled the Vatican to perform a difficult diplomatic balancing act, offering to negotiate a peaceful resolution multiple times. Francis has tacitly criticised Russian President Vladimir Putin over the invasion multiple times without naming him. He has also used language like "unjustified aggression" and "invasion," and he has condemned atrocities against people.

Moscow believes Western weaponry will "add fuel to the fire"

Moscow believes that Western weaponry will "add fuel to the fire," but that this will not influence the course of what it calls a "special military operation" to disarm Ukraine and rid it of dangerous nationalists. Russia still controls roughly one-fifth of the country, with roughly half grabbed in 2014 and the other half captured after the assault began on February 24.

Meanwhile, Ukraine said it reclaimed a portion of the industrial centre of Sievierodonetsk in fighting that appeared to be thwarting a Russian effort to grab the destroyed city, which is the focal point of Moscow's offensive to take the eastern Donbas region. The governor of Luhansk province, Sergiy Gaidai, informed national media that Ukrainian troops had retaken 20% of the territory they had lost in Sievierodonetsk.

Image: AP