Ukraine, live coverage – Pope Francis tries again and entrusts Cardinal Zuppi with a peace mission for Ukraine

The Holy See confirms a peace mission with Cardinal Zuppi

“I can confirm that Pope Francis has entrusted Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, Archbishop of Bologna and President of the Italian Episcopal Conference, with the task of conducting a mission, in agreement with the Secretariat of State, which will contribute to easing tensions in the conflict in Ukraine, in the hope, never resigned by the Holy Father, that this can start peace paths”. Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni made it known in a note, adding that “the timing of this mission, and its modalities, are currently being studied.” In recent days, rumors reported that the Pope would have decided, to help the path of peace in Ukraine, to send Zuppi to Kiev and Msgr. Claudio Gugerotti in Moscow. Yesterday, however, the dicastery for the Eastern Churches headed by Gugerotti, in a note in the light of the fact that “news about a peace mission entrusted to the Prefect of the Dicastery for the Eastern Churches, Archbishop Claudio Gugerotti has now reached wide international circulation” that “the Prefect is aware of nothing of what has been said about him”.

The Pope entrusts Cardinal Zuppo with a peace mission for Ukraine

“I can confirm that Pope Francis has entrusted Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, Archbishop of Bologna and President of the Italian Episcopal Conference, with the task of conducting a mission, in agreement with the Secretariat of State, which will contribute to easing tensions in the conflict in Ukraine, in the hope, never resigned by the Holy Father, that this can start peace paths. The timing of this mission, and its modalities, are currently being studied”. This was communicated by the director of the Vatican press office, Matteo Zuppi.

The International Criminal Court: ‘Inflexible in carrying out its legal mandate’

The International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague says it remains “inflexible”, despite the arrest warrant issued by Moscow against the prosecutor Karim Khan in response to the one issued by the Court against the Russian president Vladimir Putin for war crimes. “The ICC finds these measures unacceptable. The Court will remain steadfast in carrying out its legal mandate to bring to justice those responsible for the most heinous crimes,” reads a statement from the international tribunal.

Bilaterale Biden Zrlensky a Hiroshima

Joe Biden will have bilateral talks tomorrow with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at 2.15pm local time and then hold a press conference at the Hiroshima Hilton at 6.15pm local time. The White House made it known.

Zelensky on the meetings at the G7: “Formula of peace. Protection of the people. Strengthening international law together”

The Ukrainian president claims on Twitter that meetings with leaders on the sidelines of the G7 “add strength to Ukraine”. Volodymiyr Zelensky mentions the meetings with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Indian Narendra Modi, European Council President Charles Michel, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. “Formula of peace. Protection of the people. Strengthen international law together”, reads the end of the tweet, which attaches a short video of the meetings between handshakes and hugs with Meloni, Sunak, Michel and Macron.

We are adding strength to Ukraine. On the eve of the G7 Summit, I held meetings with @GiorgiaMeloni ????????, @RishiSunak ????????, @narendramodi ????????, @CharlesMichel ????????, @EmmanuelMacron ????????, @OlafScholz ????????. Peace Formula. Protection of people. Joint strengthening of international law.

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— Volodymyr Zelensky (@ZelenskyyUa) May 20, 2023

Meloni: “Ukraine knows it can count on Italian support at 360 degrees”

“Ukraine knows it can count on all-round Italian support. In these two days we have brought our point of view”. This was stated by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni at a press conference at the G7 in Hiroshima, recalling that tomorrow the leaders of the G7 and the invited partners will meet the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky.

Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov: “Dedollarization has begun”

“Dedollarization has begun, both in practice and in conceptual discourses.” So the Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, during the 31st assembly of the Russian Council for Foreign and Defense Policy. The Tax reports it. “Within the BRICS, Brazil has already proposed, for the next August summit, to seriously consider protecting the financial agreements within the organization, protecting the assets of the new development bank against abuses of the dollar . And many other initiatives of this kind have been proposed,” Lavrov explained.

Indian Prime Minister Modi: “India and I will do everything possible for the solution of the war”

The Indian prime minister also offers his help to end the war in Ukraine, after the Pontiff, the President of Brazil, the leaders of a group of African countries led by South Africa, and China. In his meeting today in Hiroshima, on the sidelines of the G7 summit, with Volodymir Zelensky, Narendra Modi said: “India and I will do everything possible for a solution to the war”. The President of Ukraine thanked him for India’s support for the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine.

Kiev: “Ukrainian pilots can’t wait to start training on F-16 fighters”

Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov stressed that Ukrainian pilots “can’t wait to start” training on F-16 fighters to support their “brothers” on the battlefield. Ukrainska Pravda reports it. “Ukrainian pilots are eager to start training on F-16 fighters. Now they will be able to support their brothers and sisters in arms on land and at sea to win this war – he wrote on Twitter -, the F-16s were built to shoot down enemies. Their time has come.”