Pope Francis has told an Italian newspaper that he offered to travel to Moscow to meet the Russian president about three weeks into the invasion, but that he has not received a response.

Francis was quoted Tuesday by Corriere della Sera as saying his offer to visit Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow was made through the Vatican’s No. 2, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, 20 days into Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

He said, “Of course, it would be necessary for the leader of the Kremlin to make available some window of opportunity. But we still have not had a response and we are still pushing, even if I fear that Putin cannot and does not want to have this meeting at this moment.”

Francis said he spoke with the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, for 40 minutes by videoconference and for the first half “with paper in hand, he read all of the justifications for the war. I listened and told him: I don’t understand any of this. Brother, we are not clerics of the state, we cannot use language of politics, but that of Jesus. … For this we need to find the paths of peace, to stop the firing of arms.”