While speaking to journalists on Saturday, Pope Francis stated that a trip to Ukraine is “on the table.”

When asked by a reporter if he was thinking of visiting Kyiv, Pope Francis answered, “Yes, it is on the table.”

On Saturday morning, he welcomed more than 70 journalists aboard his flight to Malta, stating, “It will be a nice trip.”

Also read: Ukraine claims Russia attacks on major oil refinery in Kremenchuk

Frances also received a photograph and a note from the family of Fox News cameraman Pierre Zakrzewski, 55, who was killed in Ukraine alongside Oleksandra “Sasha” Kuvshynova, a 24-year-old Ukrainian journalist who worked as a consultant for the network.

“lui è la su,” Francis said as he glanced at Pierre’s photo, which translates from French as “he is up there.”

While Pope Francis has not yet visited Ukraine in the midst of Russia’s invasion, he has expressed his solidarity for Ukrainian refugees and called for the war to end.

Also read:  Russia’s space cooperation with US conditioned on sanctions being lifted

Francis paid a visit to 19 Ukrainian refugee children at the Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital in Rome, Italy, on March 19. They were being treated for oncological and neurological disorders, as well as severe bomb injuries, according to Vatican Press Director Matteo Bruni at the time.

“More than a month has passed since the invasion of Ukraine, since the start of this cruel and senseless war, which, like every war, is a defeat for all, for all of us,” Francis made the remarks at the end of March during his weekly Angelus session.

Also read: Did Ukraine attack Russia? Zelensky says “I Don’t Discuss My Orders”

“We must repudiate war, a place of death where fathers and mothers bury their children, where men kill their brothers without even seeing them, where the powerful decide and the poor die. War does not only devastate the present but also the future of society,” he said.

“Enough. Stop. Let the weapons fall silent. Negotiate seriously for peace,” he added. “War cannot be something that is inevitable. We cannot get used to war,” Francis added.