MOSCOW Russian President Vladimir Putin's foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov will hold talks with the pope's peace envoy on the Ukraine conflict in Moscow on Wednesday at Putin's request, the Kremlin said.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Ushakov and Cardinal Matteo Zuppi would discuss the "situation around the conflict in Ukraine and, of course, possible paths of political and diplomatic settlement".

He said Zuppi was already in Moscow.

"We highly appreciate the efforts and initiatives of the Vatican to find a peaceful solution to the Ukrainian crisis," Peskov added.

The Vatican said on Tuesday that the main purpose of its initiative was to encourage "humanitarian gestures" that could contribute to resolving the conflict.

Zuppi met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Ukrainian religious leaders in Kyiv on June 6.

The French Catholic newspaper La Croix reported that he was expected to meet Patriarch Kirill, head of the Russian Orthodox Church, while in Moscow.

Kirill is a close ally of Putin and fully backs what Russia still describes as its "special military operation" in Ukraine, as a bulwark against a "decadent" West.

The Vatican's mention of "humanitarian gestures" appeared to refer to Ukraine's request to help with the repatriation of Ukrainian children.

Kyiv estimates nearly 19,500 children have been taken illegally to Russia or Russia-annexed Crimea since February 2022.

Russia rejects this, saying it has only evacuated children whose safety was at risk in the conflict zone.

Zelenskiy has asked the Vatican to back his own peace plan, which calls for the withdrawal of all Russian troops and the restoration of Ukraine's state borders.

(Reporting by Reuters; Writing by Gareth Jones/Kevin Liffey; Editing by Andrew Osborn)