Papal envoy meets Russian officials during 3-day visit to Russia

Papal envoy Cardinal Matteo Zuppi held talks with senior Russian officials during a three-day visit to Russia in the context of the Ukraine war, Moscow said Wednesday.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said Zuppi, the pope's special envoy for humanitarian issues, met with Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov, human rights commissioner Yana Lantratova and children's rights commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova.

Zuppi, who is also president of the Italian Episcopal Conference, began his visit earlier this week, according to the ministry.

It said the talks, held in the context of the Ukraine war, addressed cooperation between Russia and the Vatican on humanitarian issues, including efforts to locate missing people and conduct prisoner swaps.

The ministry said another topic was a "humanitarian crisis" in Oleshky, a city in the Russian-controlled part of Ukraine's southern Kherson region.

It said Zuppi was briefed on Kyiv's "criminal actions," which have "effectively taken the city's civilian population hostage and is blocking all attempts to deliver food and medicine or to evacuate the civilians remaining in the city."

At the Vatican's request, Russian authorities arranged a visit for Zuppi to a detention facility holding captured Ukrainian servicemen, according to the ministry.

It said Zuppi was able to speak personally with the servicemen and verify Russia's adherence to "all relevant humanitarian norms."

"Cardinal Zuppi's visit reaffirmed the constructive and regular nature of the dialogue between Russia and the Vatican, as well as the commitment of both sides to continued cooperation in the humanitarian sphere," the ministry said.

On Monday, Vatican News reported that Zuppi had begun a three-day visit to Moscow, with the situation of Ukrainian and Russian prisoners of war among the issues at the center of his mission.

The visit came as Pope Leo XIV urged Moscow and Kyiv to sit down and discuss an end to the more than four-year war, telling reporters Monday during his return from a four-day visit to France that the Catholic Church has a responsibility to "promote the values of human dignity" and call for peace.