Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, the Holy See’s Secretary for Relations with States, said in an interview that Pope Francis “is very convinced that if he were to make a visit [to Kyiv] it would have positive results. He has said that he will go to Ukraine, and he has always been willing to visit Moscow and meet with the Russian authorities.”

“A lot depends on the results of the [July 24-30] trip to Canada,” Archbishop Gallagher said in the interview on TG1, the leading newscast of the Italian public broadcaster RAI. “Let’s see how the Pope will withstand this trip, which is also very demanding, and then we’ll see.”