Biden and Vatican emissary to meet on Russia’s deportations of Ukrainian children

Pope Francis has dispatched a high-level emissary to speak directly with President Joe Biden about the thousands of Ukrainian children Russia has forcibly displaced, a person familiar with the meeting said.

The Vatican announced Monday that Cardinal Matteo Zuppi is spending three days in the American capital, following his recent visits to Kyiv and Moscow. He is expected to meet with Biden at the White House on Tuesday, said the person, who was granted anonymity to disclose a sensitive, private meeting.

The Holy See Press Office said the cardinal’s mission is to “promote peace in Ukraine.” More specifically, per the person, Zuppi wants to discuss the nearly 20,000 kids Ukraine claims were deported or forcibly displaced by Russia since the invasion began.

The U.S. ambassador to the Vatican, Joe Donnelly, is also in D.C. and will be present at some of the cardinal’s meetings in Washington.

The White House and the Vatican embassy in the U.S. didn’t respond to requests for comment. The Russian embassy in D.C. didn’t respond to a question about if it was supportive of the Vatican’s effort.

In March, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova, Russia’s commissioner for children’s rights, “for the war crime of unlawful deportation of population (children) and that of unlawful transfer of population (children) from occupied areas of Ukraine to the Russian Federation.”

Russian officials claim they are holding on to Ukrainian kids for their own safety due to the war, in some cases handing them over to adoptive families.

Pope Francis has made alleviating the suffering of children his top issue of the 16-month war, namely the safe return of those who have been displaced by brutal fighting. He and his team are working with Ukraine, Russia and interested parties on a potential deal, though there’s no public indication that one will be reached soon.

“There is no peace plan [or] mediation,” Zuppi told reporters earlier this month. “There is a great aspiration that the violence ends, that human lives can be saved starting with the defense of the youngest.”

In May, Pope Francis told reporters in Hungary that the Catholic Church would do “all that is humanly possible” to help bring Ukrainian children home.