Pope Francis receives Ukraine's Zelensky in the Vatican

Pope Francis received Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for a private meeting at the Vatican on Friday in talks that focused mainly on the return of prisoners.

Zelensky asked the pope for support for children and adults imprisoned by Russia, the president said in a post on Telegram.

He then met with Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin and they discussed how to end the war in Ukraine and achieve a just and stable peace. The Vatican's chief diplomat expressed concern about the humanitarian situation there, according to the Holy See.

The Holy See said the meeting lasted half an hour and that Zelensky presented the head of the Catholic Church with a painting entitled "The Bucha Massacre," which shows a girl among the rubble.

Bucha, near Kiev, was the scene of alleged atrocities by Russian troops shortly after Moscow's full-scale invasion began, when civilians were said to have been tortured and killed by retreating soldiers.

It is Zelensky's third visit to the Vatican.

In the course of the war, launched by Russia in February 2022, Pope Francis has repeatedly reminded the public of what he calls the "martyred Ukraine."

But some of his comments on the war, including calls for a peace deal, have met with criticism in Kiev.

Zelensky is travelling onwards to Germany, where he was due to attend a Ukraine summit with the leaders of 50 allied countries at the US air base in Ramstein on Saturday. However, that was postponed after US President Joe Biden decided to stay in the US to deal with the effects of Hurricane Milton.

Instead of attending the summit, Zelensky is now coming to Berlin for bilateral talks with leaders.