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Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal told a news conference in Rome that
he had held talks at the Vatican and discussed Kyiv's peace
formula to end Russia's 14-month-old war in Ukraine.
"I asked his holiness for help in returning home Ukrainian
children who are being held, arrested, deported to Russia in a
criminal way," he said.
Kyiv estimates nearly 19,500 children have been taken to Russia
or Russian-occupied Crimea since Moscow invaded in February last
year, in what it condemns as illegal deportations.
Moscow, which controls large parts of Ukraine's east and south,
denies abducting children and says they have been transported
away for their own safety.
"We discussed the (Ukrainian) peace formula, and a potential
path and assistance from his holiness and the Vatican to achieve
all the steps of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's peace
formula," Shmyhal said.
Pope Francis, 86, has said previously that he wants to visit
Kyiv but also Moscow on a peace mission.
Tens of thousands have been killed, millions uprooted and whole
cities have been flattened during the war in Ukraine.
Russia has been conducting a major offensive in the east of
Ukraine for months, but has failed to make major territorial
advances. Ukraine plans to launch a counteroffensive in the
coming weeks or months. Kyiv wants all its territory back.
Chinese President Xi Jinping, who has close relations with
Russian President Vladimir Putin, spoke by phone with Zelenskiy
on Wednesday. Shmyhal told reporters the phone call had been
very productive and could prove a very positive beginning for
future relations.
(Reporting by Rome bureau and Max Hunder; writing by Tom
Balmforth; editing by Timothy Heritage)
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