Vatican peace mission on Ukraine underway says Parolin

There are developments, "but of course (they are) at a confidential level," said Parolin on the sidelines of an event at the Pontifical Lateranense University.

"I really believe it will move forward," he added.

At the end of April Pope Francis announced that the Vatican is involved in a peace mission to try to end the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, without disclosing details.

"There is a mission underway now but it is not yet public. When it is public, I will reveal it," the pope told reporters during the return flight from Hungary.

Both Kyiv and Moscow subsequently denied all knowledge of the initiative.

However, on Wednesday Parolin said "they were not denials".

"They had said they didn't know anything about it, but then there were contacts where it was clarified on both sides that there had been a misunderstanding," said the Secretary of State.