This has been the meeting between Zelenski and Pope Francis: 40 minutes and gifts full of symbology

Pope Francis and the Ukrainian president, Volodimir Zelenski, have met this Saturday for 40 minutes in the Vatican, an expected meeting that comes after the pontiff revealed that a mission is underway to end the war in Ukraine, the details of which are not yet known.

Zelenski has conveyed to the Pope that it was “a great honor” to see him while he put his hand to his heart, while the pontiff thanked him “for the visit”, according to the images that have emerged from the beginning of the meeting between the two that it has already concluded.

The pope gave him a bronze work representing an olive branch, a symbol of peace, as well as this year's Message for Peace, the Document on Human Fraternity, and the volume 'An encyclical on peace in Ukraine.'

The Ukrainian president, for his part, presented him with a work of art made from a bulletproof vest and a painting titled 'Loss', about the killing of children during the conflict.

It is the first meeting of the pope with the Ukrainian president since the war began, although both already know each other because Francis received Zelensky in audience on February 8, 2020, when they already spoke “of the humanitarian situation and the search for peace.” ” in the context “of the conflict that, since 2014, plagues Ukraine”.

This new meeting comes in the midst of the Vatican peace mission announced by the pontiff on the return flight from his recent trip to Hungary and of which the details are not yet known, although a Vatican source has told Russian media that the meeting “is not directly related” to her and that Zelenski requested the meeting with Francisco “just a few days ago.”

In addition, it occurs when an imminent Ukrainian counteroffensive is expected with which kyiv wants to reconquer a large part of the territory occupied by Moscow.

For all these reasons, the meeting has raised great expectations, since many hope that it will be a starting point to promote complex negotiations, starting with the humanitarian issue, but which can also reach the ground, given the equidistant position that Francis always has tried to maintain, although sometimes that attitude has annoyed the Ukrainians.

The Pope received the Prime Minister of Ukraine, Denys Shmyhal, on April 27, who reiterated the invitation to visit Ukraine, a trip on which Francis has always replied that he would do so when he could also go to Moscow.