Pope Francis said Saturday that he is considering a visit to Kiev, European media reported.

"Yes, there is such an option," he said, responding to a reporter's question about whether the pontiff could accept a similar invitation sent earlier by the Ukrainian side.

In March, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky said he had invited Pope Francis to visit Ukraine.

Recall, Pope Francis also today expressed criticism of Russian President Vladimir Putin for the war that Russia started against Ukraine.

This was reported by Reuters.

The Pope's condemnation of Putin was mentioned in an address to Maltese officials on Saturday, April 2, upon his arrival in the Mediterranean island nation.

He recalled that Moscow claims that the action it launched on Feb. 24 is a "special military operation" aimed not at de-occupying the territory but at demilitarizing and denazifying its neighbor.

The Pope rejected this terminology, calling the action a war.

"From the east of Europe, from the land of the rising sun, dark shadows of war have now spread. We thought invading other countries, wild street fights and atomic threats were grim memories of the distant past," he said.

According to him, "the icy winds of war, which bring only death, destruction and hatred, have powerfully blown over the lives of many people and touched us all."

"Again, some ruler, unfortunately, is carried away with anachronistic statements about nationalist interests, provoking and stirring up conflicts, while ordinary people feel the need to build a future that will either be shared or not at all," the Pope said.

At the same time, he strongly condemned unjustified aggression and atrocities in war.

As a reminder, in February the Pope spoke out about the alleged Russian invasion of Ukraine. And in March, he made a statement in support of Ukraine.