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Pope Francis’ Ukraine envoy sets off for Russia

Matteo Zuppi was tasked with holding humanitarian talks a little over a year ago

THE VATICAN, October 14. /TASS/. Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, head of the Italian Bishops’ Conference and Pope Francis’ special envoy for Ukraine, has set off for Moscow to discuss humanitarian issues, an informed Vatican source said.

According to reporters, he will hold talks with the Russian authorities, the human rights ombudsperson and the commissioner for children’s rights, as well as with officials from the Russian Orthodox Church. "The agenda only includes humanitarian issues, which are part of the mission assigned to the cardigan by the pope," the source pointed out.

Zuppi was tasked with holding humanitarian talks a little over a year ago. This was when he made trips to Kiev, Moscow, Washington and Beijing. The main goal was to establish a mechanism to return children evacuated from the combat zones to Ukraine. Both the Vatican and Moscow expressed satisfaction with their communication.

Pope Francis hosted Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky just before Zuppi’s trip. According to Zelensky, he handed prisoner exchange lists over to the pope. The Vatican has long been active as a mediator in the issue through the Russian embassy to the Holy See.

It’s not clear if Zuppi plans to visit other capitals because this time, the Vatican did not make official statements on the matter.

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