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Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Ushakov and Cardinal Matteo
Zuppi would discuss the "situation around the conflict in
Ukraine and, of course, possible paths of political and
diplomatic settlement".
He said Zuppi was already in Moscow.
"We highly appreciate the efforts and initiatives of the Vatican
to find a peaceful solution to the Ukrainian crisis," Peskov
added.
The Vatican said on Tuesday that the main purpose of its
initiative was to encourage "humanitarian gestures" that could
contribute to resolving the conflict.
Zuppi met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Ukrainian
religious leaders in Kyiv on June 6.
The French Catholic newspaper La Croix reported that he was
expected to meet Patriarch Kirill, head of the Russian Orthodox
Church, while in Moscow.
Kirill is a close ally of Putin and fully backs what Russia
still describes as its "special military operation" in Ukraine,
as a bulwark against a "decadent" West.
The Vatican's mention of "humanitarian gestures" appeared to
refer to Ukraine's request to help with the repatriation of
Ukrainian children.
Kyiv estimates nearly 19,500 children have been taken illegally
to Russia or Russia-annexed Crimea since February 2022.
Russia rejects this, saying it has only evacuated children whose
safety was at risk in the conflict zone.
Zelenskiy has asked the Vatican to back his own peace plan,
which calls for the withdrawal of all Russian troops and the
restoration of Ukraine's state borders.
(Reporting by Reuters; Writing by Gareth Jones/Kevin Liffey;
Editing by Andrew Osborn)
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