President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky held a meeting in Kyiv with the head of the Bishops' Conference of Italy, Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, during which he stated that a ceasefire and freezing of the conflict in Ukraine would not lead to peace. Such data are provided by the office of the Ukrainian leader.

After meeting with the Vatican's envoy for a settlement in Ukraine, Zuppi, the Ukrainian politician said that Kyiv is only considering its own path to peace.

At the same time, Zelensky called on the Catholic Church to contribute to the implementation of the clause of the Ukrainian peace plan on the exchange of detainees according to the “all for all” formula.

On May 20, the Vatican reported that Pope Francis I had instructed Cardinal Zuppi to lead a peace mission in Ukraine.

Prior to this, Il Sismografo wrote that Moscow and Kyiv agreed to the proposal of Pope Francis to receive his special envoys to discuss a truce. It was emphasized that the parties decided to accept the proposal for meetings, but "the preparation is extremely difficult and so far progress has been extremely modest." The publication noted that within the framework of these events, the “peace mission” of the Vatican, which Pope Francis announced at the end of April, could be concluded.