Pope warns Ukraine war seems to have 'no end' as envoy returns from Russia

Pope Francis said on Friday there was no apparent end in sight to the war in Ukraine as his peace envoy wrapped up three days of talks in Moscow.

"The tragic reality of this war that seems to have no end demands of everyone a common creative effort to imagine and forge paths of peace," the pope told a religious delegation from the Patriarch of Constantinople.

The Vatican said in a subsequent statement that the pope's envoy, Italian Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, had finished his consultations in Moscow, where he had met one of President Vladimir Putin's advisers, Yuri Ushakov, and the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill.

"[The visit was] aimed at identifying humanitarian initiatives, which could open roads to peace," the statement said. It added that further steps would be taken, but gave no details.

Francis has called repeatedly for an end to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which has destroyed Ukrainian villages and towns, caused the deaths of tens of thousands of people and driven millions more from their homes.

The pope asked Zuppi in May to serve as his peace envoy and the cardinal visited Kyiv earlier this month for talks with President Volodymyr Zelensky.

(Reuters)