Pope offers to meet Putin, still waiting to hear back

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis has told an Italian newspaper that he has offered to travel to Moscow to meet with President Vladimir Putin to try to end Russia’s war in Ukraine, and suggested the invasion might have been provoked by NATO’s eastward expansion. Francis said he made the offer about three weeks into Russia’s invasion, but that he still hadn’t received a response from Moscow. Francis was quoted Tuesday by Corriere della Sera as saying his offer to go to Moscow was made through the Vatican’s No. 2, Cardinal Pietro Parolin.