VATICAN CITY - On Friday morning, President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived at the Vatican City for his third audience with Pope Francis since the start of the Ukraine-Russia. President Zelensky arrived after dining with Prime Minister Giogria Meloni the previous evening. President Zelensky had previously met with the pontiff on Feb. 8 2020 and March 13 2023. They also met on June 14 during the G7 meeting in Puglia. 

 At their meeting the two leaders exchanged gifts. President Zelensky gave the pontiff a painting called "Bucha's horror seen with through the eyes of Marichka" - a young imaginary girl in front of whom Russian soldiers tortured and killed her father, mother and grandmother. Bucha is a town where two years ago 630 civilians were massacred. In the oil painting, Marichka, with dull eyes, and wearing a scarf and brown coat, represents all the inhabitants of Bucha who have had to witness the atrocities of the Ukraine-Russian war. In return, the pontiff gifted President Zelensky a bronze statue with "peace is a fragile flower" inscripted on it.

 President Zelensky also met with the Secretary of State for the Vatican, Pietro Parolin, as well as the Archbishop Paul Richard, the Vatican's Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs. A press release by the Holy See Office has stated that their discussions were dedicated to the state of the war and the humanitarian situation in Ukraine as well as ways the war could be brought to an end, leading to just and stable peace in the country. In addition, some matters relating to the religious life of the country were examined.

 After this stop at the Vatican, President Zelensky will head to Berlin for talks with the German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

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