“I think it is inspiring for peace, and it would be a waste if it is not used for that purpose,” stated Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa to Lusa and RTP in Rome, after attending the funeral of Pope Francis at St. Peter’s Square in the Vatican.
The Portuguese President expressed that “what is expected from a peace spoken at St. Peter’s Basilica is that it will be a possible peace, a quick peace, but a dignified and just peace, which is fundamentally necessary.”
“A dignified peace, a just peace, a peace that can satisfy the viewpoint of those on one side, but also the other viewpoint, which is Zelensky’s viewpoint. A peace that is a surrender is not a dignified and just peace,” Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa argued.
The President of the Republic led the Portuguese delegation present at the funeral ceremonies for Pope Francis held this morning.
Also present at the Vatican were the President of the Assembly of the Republic, José Pedro Aguiar-Branco, the Prime Minister, Luís Montenegro, and the Minister of State and Foreign Affairs, Paulo Rangel.
The Presidents of Ukraine and the United States met today in Rome, in a 15-minute meeting that took place within St. Peter’s Basilica before the start of Pope Francis’s funeral.
Trump and Zelensky also held a “positive conversation” with the French President and the British Prime Minister.
The teams of the United States and Ukrainian Presidents are attempting to organize another meeting between the two leaders for today, according to Zelensky’s spokesperson, Sergey Nikiforov.
Dozens of heads of state and government, along with other high-level leaders, gathered in Rome this Saturday to attend the funeral of Pope Francis, which facilitated various diplomatic encounters and meetings.
On Friday night, the President of the United States assured that Russia and Ukraine were “very close to an agreement,” although he did not disclose any details.
Meanwhile, his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, with whom there has been a significant rapprochement in recent months, admitted the “possibility” of “direct negotiations” between Moscow and Kyiv.
Since 2022, when negotiations between the two warring countries failed, there have been no more direct negotiations.
