Ukraine’s presidential office comments on Pope's "secret peacekeeping mission"

Mykhailo Podolyak, advisor to the head of the Presidential Office, said this in a comment to Ukrinform.

"Of course, any actor in global politics, including the Vatican, can discuss the war, analyse scenarios and seek practical solutions... However, the final initiatives must be coordinated with Ukraine and will be coordinated in any case. Because it is Ukraine's subjectivity that is absolutely decisive today. No one will decide the fate of Ukraine without Ukraine's participation, and this is axiomatic," he said, commenting on the Pope's statement about his alleged participation in a "secret peacekeeping mission" in Ukraine.

According to Podolyak, for Ukraine and its key partners, the starting point for a settlement is already a clear formula for peace proposed by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The advisor to the head of the presidential office emphasised that Ukraine would not give up a single metre of territory.

• On April 12, Pope Francis called on world leaders to use reason, not weapons, to resolve differences, recalling the Cold War of the 1960s between Washington and Moscow.