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Pope to appoint special envoy for return of children to Ukraine

It is also confirmed that Cardinal Zuppi, who earlier visited Kiev, Moscow and Washington, will travel to Beijing

VATICAN, August 4. /TASS/. Pope Francis said in an interview with the Catholic weekly Vida Nueva that he is considering appointing a special Vatican envoy for the return of children to Ukraine.

"Cardinal Matteo Zuppi (Pope Francis' envoy for the Ukrainian settlement - TASS) is working hard as a negotiator <...> The most significant progress that has been made concerns the return of Ukrainian children to their country. We are doing everything possible so that every member of the family who demands the return of their children can achieve it," the Pope said, "In this regard, I am thinking of appointing a special [Vatican] envoy who will act as a liaison between the Russian and Ukrainian authorities."

The pontiff also confirmed that Cardinal Zuppi, who earlier visited Kiev, Moscow and Washington, will travel to Beijing. "After Cardinal Zuppi's visit to Washington, the next planned stop will be Beijing, because both (the US and China - TASS) can contribute to de-escalation of tensions. I call all these initiatives a 'peace offensive,'" he said.

The mission of Zuppi, who is the president of the Italian Bishops' Conference, is focused on humanitarian aspects. Kiev has rejected the Vatican's mediation role in the peace settlement, but has asked the Holy See for help in returning prisoners of war and Ukrainian children trapped in the war zone and taken to Russia. As Dzuppi earlier said, mechanisms for exchanging lists are being worked out. He discussed these issues first in Kiev and then in Moscow, where he met at the end of June with Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov, Russia’s human right commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova and Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia.

Earlier, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that Moscow was not hiding the names of children brought to Russia from the war zone; dozens of children had already been reclaimed by their relatives. On July 30, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that there were no problems with the return of children to their relatives in Ukraine. He called the story of Russia's alleged abduction of children in Ukraine "exaggerated" and stressed that it was a rescue of children.

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