Hungary: Pope Francis has stated that the Vatican is involved in a peace mission to try to end the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

“I am willing to do everything that has to be done. There is a mission in progress now, but it is not yet public. When it is public, I will reveal it,” the pope told reporters during a flight home after a three-day visit to Hungary.

The pope’s announcement comes hours after Moscow claimed that its forces took control of four more urban quarters in the front-line Ukrainian city of Bakhmut.

“I think that peace is always made by opening channels. You can never achieve peace through closure. This is not easy. In these meetings, we did not just talk about Little Red Riding Hood. We spoke of all these things. Everyone is interested in the road to peace,” the Pope added.

The pope added that he had spoken about the situation in Ukraine with Hungarian Prime Minister Mr. Viktor Orban and with Metropolitan Hilarion, a bishop representing the Russian Orthodox Church in Budapest.

Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Pope Francis has been consistently urging for peace and has expressed his desire to act as a mediator between Kyiv and Moscow. Despite his efforts, there has been no significant progress towards resolving the conflict.

Recently, Ukraine’s Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal met with the Pope at the Vatican and discussed a proposed “peace formula” from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Mr. Shmyhal also extended an invitation for the Pope to visit Kyiv.

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