Pope Francis said that the planned meeting with russian Patriarch Kirill will not take place, according to the Argentine newspaper La Nacion.
In an interview, the pontiff said that a meeting with Kirill was scheduled for June this year in Jerusalem. But he had to cancel it.
"... Our diplomacy understood that the meeting of the two at this time could lead to great confusion," Pope Francis said of himself and Kirill.
Asked why he was not going to Ukraine, where ordinary people were waiting for him, the pontiff said he could not do anything that "endangers higher goals, such as the end of the war, a truce or at least a humanitarian corridor".
"What is the use of the Pope's trip to Kyiv if the war continues the next day?" Francis added.
Ambassador of Ukraine to the Holy See Andriy Yurash stated that Ukraine expected russia to suspend hostilities during the Pope's visit to Kyiv.
Earlier, the Chief of the president's office Andriy Yermak expressed the opinion that "the Pope's visit to Kyiv is capable of influencing the course of events. It will further emphasize whose side the civilization is on".