Zelensky meets Pope, Scholz as whirlwind Europe tour ends
· RTE.ieUkrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has met Pope Francis at the Vatican as part of a whirlwind tour of European capitals aimed at drumming up support from allies ahead of a tough winter.
Mr 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 yesterday, Zelensky headed this morning for what was his second private audience at the Vatican, following a meeting in May 2023.
Pope Francis has repeatedly called for peace in Ukraine and regularly prays for its "martyred" people.
But the pontiff - who also met Mr 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".
In a joint press statement with Mr Zelensky, Ms 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 next July.
In Paris shortly before that, Mr 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.
Mr Zelensky has arrived in Berlin to meet German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, whose government plans to halve its bilateral military aid to Ukraine next year.
Ukraine is facing its toughest winter since the full-scale invasion started in February 2022, as Russia launches strikes on the country's power grid and advances across the eastern front line.
Mr Zelensky arrived in Paris from London where he had had talks with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and NATO chief Mark Rutte.
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.
Russian strikes kill four in Odesa region
Russian strikes overnight on the southern Ukrainian region of Odesa killed four people, including a teenage girl, and wounded ten more, the regional governor said.
Russia has targeted Ukraine's coastal Odesa region throughout the war, hitting cargo ships and grain silos in what Kyiv says is an attempt to destroy its export capacity.
Regional governor Oleg Kiper said a two-storey building had been destroyed in the attack and that the victims included a 43-year-old woman, a 22-year-old man and a 16-year-old girl.
Video from the scene of the attack distributed by first responders showed emergency workers retrieving bodies from the rubble of the destroyed building by lamplight.
Russian forces have stepped up attacks on southern Ukraine recently, including strikes that have damaged civilian vessels at Odesa region ports.
Ukraine was one of the largest exporters of grain in the world before Russia's invasion in February 2022, but repeated attacks on its port and storage facilities have severely curbed its output.
Eight people were killed in an attack on Wednesday this week, the latest in a string that the European Union described as a "blatant violation of international law."