Pope Francis announces Vatican’s participation in secret peacekeeping mission in Ukraine

The Vatican is participating in a peacekeeping mission to end the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, as well as to return Ukrainian children deported to Russia

Pope Francis announced the information, as Reuters reported.

"There is a mission in course now but it is not yet public. When it is public, I will reveal it," he told reporters after a three-day visit to Hungary.

"I think that peace is always made by opening channels. You can never achieve peace through closure. ... This is not easy," the Pope added.

He recalled that he had spoken about the situation in Ukraine with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.

"We spoke of all these things. Everyone is interested in the road to peace," Francis said.