Cardinal Pietro Parolin who is presently paying official visit to Ukraine, during a meeting with the Foreign Minister of Ukraine Pavlo Klimkin on 17 June 2016 also stressed that Pope Francis is keeping to pay a special attention to Ukraine and Ukrainian people.

Pavlo Klimkin thanked for the unique humanitarian initiative of the Head of the Catholic Church regarding a collection on 24 April 2016 of charity donations in all Catholic churches in Europe to provide assistance to Ukraine that reiterated the solidarity of the Holy See with Ukrainian people and became a strong signal of support to our country in addressing vital domestic and foreign policy challenges.  

The sides underlined the importance of full implementation of the Minsk agreements as the basis of peaceful settlement of the situation in Donbas caused by Russian aggression, and exchanged views on the role of church diplomacy in maintaining peace, emphasizing the undeniable importance of apply of the humanitarian approach, respect for the commitments and values as the basis of modern civilization development.

Minister P.Klimkin called for engagement of the opportunities of the Holy See for the release of citizens of Ukraine illegally detained in the territory of the RF.