Arseniy Yatsenyuk asks Pope to pray for Ukraine

On Saturday, April 26, Prime Minister of Ukraine Arseniy Yatsenyuk met with Pope Francis in Vatican.

After the meeting, Arseniy Yatsenyuk told reporters that he had addressed Pope "with a request to pray for Ukraine and do everything to bring peace and stability in Europe."

The Prime Minister recalled that the Church did much in 1978, when the conflict between Argentina and Chile started: "Then the church did everything possible in order to avert that war." Similar situation, he said, happened during the Caribbean crisis, "when Pope did everything in order to avoid nuclear war between the U.S. and Soviet Union."

“Pope Francis in his prayers and addresses is praying for Ukraine, mentions Ukraine and supports it. This is a great sign of solidarity with the Ukrainian people," Arseniy Yatsenyuk stressed.

He has also met with Vatican’s Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin. Arseniy Yatsenyuk said that at the meeting he reminded the times of Maidan, "when the chances for victory equaled zero": “They [the then authority] had force, police, army, automatic rifles. But it did not happen the way they wanted. The force is not the army or weapons; force is belief and spirit.”

"If God be with us, then we will win," said Arseniy Yatsenyuk.

The PM has also met with his Italian counterpart Matteo Renzi.

He has also visited Basilica of St. Sofia in Rome, where he met with local Ukrainian community.

The delegation of Ukraine included Cabinet Minister Ostap Semerak, Foreign Minister Andrii Deshchytsia, Adviser to the Prime Minister on the issues of church-state and international relations Viktor Yelenskiy.

Today, on April 26, Arseniy Yatsenyuk is returning to Ukraine.