Vatican City (AFP) - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky urged Pope Francis Friday to help bring back Ukrainians taken captive by Russia, as he toured European capitals seeking more support ahead of a tough winter.

Zelensky’s meeting with the pontiff – their second private audience since Russia’s February 2022 invasion – came after he visited London and Paris and before he heads to Berlin, on a whirlwind tour to seek to bolster support.

The president is seeking a military and financial boost during the 48-hour trip amid fears of dwindling support if Donald Trump wins the US presidency next month.

After meeting Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni late Thursday, Zelensky headed to the Vatican Friday morning for talks with the 87-year-old leader of the world’s almost 1.4 billion Catholics.

Francis has repeatedly called for peace in Ukraine and regularly prays for its “martyred” people, but he sparked outrage in Kyiv earlier this year after giving an interview in which he urged Ukrainians to “raise the white flag and negotiate”.

In a post on social media Friday, Zelensky said his talks with the pope had focused on the “incredibly painful” question of people captured and deported from Ukraine to Russia, saying he hoped the Holy See could help.

The Vatican said Zelensky had discussed during the visit – which included separate talks with the pope’s secretary of state, Pietro Parolin – “the state of the war and the humanitarian situation in Ukraine” and ways to reach a “just and stable peace”.

The meeting came after Russian strikes overnight on the southern Ukrainian region of Odesa killed four people, including a teenage girl, and wounded 10 more, according to the regional governor.

Zelensky will later head to Berlin to meet German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, whose government plans to halve its bilateral military aid to Ukraine next year.

- Victory plan -

In a joint press statement with Zelensky on Thursday evening, Meloni pledged support for Kyiv “for as long as needed”, and announced that the next international reconstruction conference to help his country will be in Rome in July.

In Paris shortly before that, Zelensky held talks with French President Emmanuel Macron, after which he denied media reports that he was discussing the terms of a ceasefire with Russia.

“This is not the topic of our discussions,” he told the press in the French capital.

“It’s not right. Russia works a lot with media disinformation so it (such reports) is understandable,” he added.

Zelensky has rejected any peace plan that involves ceding land to Russia, arguing Moscow must first withdraw all troops from Ukrainian territory.

Zelensky also said he and Macron had discussed Kyiv’s “victory plan” to defeat Russia.

“Before winter we need your support,” he added, acknowledging “a difficult situation in the east” and a “big deficit” in terms of some equipment.

Without elaborating, Macron said Zelensky had outlined Ukraine’s “plan for the next weeks” and the pair had discussed strategy for the coming “weeks and months”.

Macron emphasised he had reaffirmed France’s support “for the Ukrainian resistance against the Russian invasion”.

Zelensky said later on Telegram that they had discussed the possibility of France and Ukraine jointly producing arms.

- Tough winter -

Ukraine is facing its toughest winter since Russia launched its full-scale invasion, as Russia keeps up strikes on the country’s power grid and advances across the eastern front line.

In London on Thursday, Zelensky had talks with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and NATO’s new chief Mark Rutte.

The meeting, Starmer said, had been a chance to “go through” Zelensky’s plan and “to talk in more detail”.

Zelensky has said Ukraine desperately needs more aid to fight back after Russia captured dozens of small towns and villages in the east.

He is also pushing for clearance to use long-range weapons supplied by allies, to strike military targets deep inside Russia.

Washington and London have stalled on giving approval over fears it could draw NATO allies into direct conflict with Russia.

Zelensky said he had raised the subject at the Downing Street meeting.

Rutte told reporters: “Legally, Ukraine is allowed to use its weapons, if they can hit targets in Russia, if these targets present a threat to Ukraine.”

A planned meeting of Ukraine’s allies in Germany on Saturday was postponed after US President Joe Biden called off his visit to focus on the threat from Hurricane Milton.

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