Zelensky meets Pope, Scholz as whirlwind Europe tour ends

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met Pope Francis at the Vatican on Friday, part of a whirlwind tour of European capitals aimed at drumming up support from allies ahead of a tough winter.

Zelensky is seeking a military and financial boost during a 48-hour trip to London, Paris, Rome and Berlin, amid fears of dwindling support if Donald Trump wins the US presidency next month.

After meeting Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni for dinner late Thursday, Zelensky headed Friday morning for what was his second private audience at the Vatican, following a meeting in May 2023.

Francis -- the leader of the world's almost 1.4 billion Catholics -- has repeatedly called for peace in Ukraine and regularly prays for its "martyred" people.

But the pontiff -- who also met Zelensky at the G7 summit in June -- sparked outrage in Kyiv earlier this year after giving an interview in which he urged Ukrainians to "raise the white flag and negotiate".

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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 France's 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.

Victory plan 

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.

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

Tough winter 

Ukraine is facing its toughest winter since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022, as Russia keeps up strikes on the country's power grid and advances across the eastern front line.

Russian strikes overnight on the southern Ukrainian region of Odesa killed four people, including a teenage girl, and wounded 10 more, the regional governor said Friday.

Zelensky arrived in Paris from London where he had had talks with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and NATO's new chief Mark Rutte.

Speaking after his Downing Street meeting, Zelensky said he had "outlined the details of our victory plan", adding that it "aims to create the right conditions for a just end to the war".

The meeting, Starmer said, had been a chance to "go through the plan, 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.