Ukrainian President Zelensky’s five-word greeting for Pope Francis

Ukrainian president is told Rome behind him ‘as long as necessary’, amid reports of Russian air losses

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky met Pope Francis in the Vatican, after Italy pledged its full support for Kyiv in its defence against the Russian invasion.

“It is a great honour,” Mr Zelensky said, putting his hand to his heart and bowing his head as he greeted the 86-year-old Pope, who stood with a cane.

In a 40-minute meeting, Mr Zelensky asked the Pope to back Kyiv’s peace plan, and the pontiff indicated the Catholic state would help in the repatriation of Ukrainian children taken by Russians.

In a written statement, the Vatican said the two men spoke about Ukraine’s humanitarian and political situation provoked by the war going on. “The pope assured his constant prayer, paid witness to by his many public appeals and by his continued invoking of the Lord for peace, since February of last year.”

“Both agreed on the need to continue humanitarian efforts” to help the population. The pope underlined in particular the urgent need for ‘humanitarian gestures’ toward the most fragile persons, “innocent victims of the conflict”, the statement said.

The president gave his host a bulletproof vest that had been used by a Ukrainian soldier and later painted with an image of the Madonna.

The pope has a standing invitation from Mr Zelensky to visit Kyiv but has said previously that he also wants to visit Moscow as part of the same peace mission.

Mr Zelensky earlier met Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni, who condemned Russia’s “brutal and unjust aggression,” pledged Italy’s support for Ukraine for “as long as is necessary,” and urged Russia to immediately withdraw.

“You can’t achieve peace through a surrender,” she said at a joint press conference. “It would be a very grave precedent for all nations of the world”.

She emphasised Italy’s support for Ukraine’s membership of the European Union and the “intensification” of a partnership with Nato.

Pope Francis and Zelensky shake hands following a private audience in the Vatican (AFP/Getty)

Ms Meloni backs military and other aid for Ukraine, but while her far-right Brothers of Italy party champions the principle of national sovereignty, she has had to contend with leaders of two coalition partners who have openly professed their admiration for Vladimir Putin.

Mr Zelensky will head to Germany on Sunday, after Berlin announced €2.7bn (£2.4bn) of military aid to Ukraine, its biggest such package yet, and pledged further support for Kyiv for as long as necessary.

Smoke rises on the site of a helicopter crash in the town of Klintsy in Bryansk (Reuters)

The Ukrainian president and his team have been vigorously promoting Kyiv’s 10-point peace plan and urging world leaders to hold a Global Peace Summit based on the proposals.

It calls for restoring Ukraine’s territorial integrity, the withdrawal of Russian troops and cessation of hostilities, and the restoration of Ukraine’s state borders. Mr Zelensky has repeatedly said the plan is not open to negotiations.

After Moscow acknowledged on Friday that its forces had fallen back north of Ukraine’s battlefield city of Bakhmut, Britain’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) said Russian troops had likely withdrawn “in bad order”.

The MoD said Russia’s 72nd Separate Motor Rifle Brigade, established last Autumn, was dogged with allegations of poor morale and limited combat effectiveness and its deployment to Bakhmut reflected a severe shortage of credible combat units on Moscow’s part.

Zelensky and Meloni at Chigi Palace in Rome (EPA)

Elsewhere, Moscow based news outlet Kommersant reported that two Russian fighter jets and two military helicopters had been shot down on Saturday close to the Ukrainian border, in what would be a spectacular coup for Kyiv if confirmed.

Kommersant, a respected, independent business-focused daily, said on its website that the Su-34 fighter-bomber, Su-35 fighter and two Mi-8 helicopters had made up a raiding party, and had been “shot down almost simultaneously” in an ambush in the Bryansk region, adjoining northeast Ukraine.

Russia’s state-owned Tass news agency reported that an SU-34 and a helicopter crashed in the region.

Meanwhile, South Africa’s presidential security adviser said his country was “actively non-aligned” in Russia’s war against Ukraine, after US allegations that it had supplied weapons to Moscow led to a diplomatic crisis this week.

Reuters contributed to this report