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Pope Francis’ Ukraine peace envoy Cardinal Zuppi set for 3-day visit to China
- Beijing is fourth stop on a peace mission that took Zuppi to Kyiv and Moscow in June, and Washington in July
- Visit is another step in ‘mission desired by the pope to sustain humanitarian initiatives’ and seek paths leading to ‘a just peace’, the Vatican says
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Pope Francis’ peace envoy will be in Beijing for a three-day visit as part of the Vatican’s efforts to bring an end to the war in Ukraine.
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The visit by Cardinal Matteo Zuppi follows an exchange of warm remarks between Beijing and the pope, who earlier said relations were “very respectful”.
Beijing is the fourth stop on a peace mission that took the cardinal to Kyiv and Moscow in June, and Washington in July.
“The visit forms as another step of the mission desired by the Pope to sustain humanitarian initiatives and to seek paths that may lead to a just peace,” the Vatican press office said on Tuesday. He will be in Beijing from Wednesday to Friday.
Beijing’s foreign ministry said Zuppi would meet Li Hui, China’s special representative for Eurasian affairs. Li was appointed to the role in 2019, after serving as Chinese ambassador to Russia for 10 years.
In May, he led a delegation to Ukraine, Russia and four other European countries as special envoy – following a commitment from President Xi Jinping during a phone call with Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky on April 26.
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“On the Ukrainian issue, China has always been committed to promoting peace and talks, and we are willing to work with all parties to continue to play a constructive role in promoting the relaxation and cooling of the situation,” Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said on Wednesday.
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