Papal envoy says Moscow visit focused on humanitarian issues, not peace plan

FILE PHOTO: Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, Pope Francis' envoy and President of the Italian Episcopal Conference (CEI), leads a mass at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Moscow, Russia June 29, 2023. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov/

MILAN (Reuters) - Papal envoy Cardinal Matteo Zuppi said on Sunday his mission to Moscow on the Ukraine war was focused on humanitarian issues and had not involved any discussions of a peace plan.

Pope Francis had in May asked Zuppi, head of the Italian bishops' conference, to carry out a peace mission to try to help end the war in Ukraine.