The former Archbishop of Canterbury is visiting Ukraine with other faith leaders “to demonstrate solidarity and friendship with those affected by the war”.

Lord Williams of Oystermouth joined figures such as the Minister General of the Franciscan Friars and the Greek Orthodox Archbishop of Thyateira and Great Britain to comfort war victims and sustain morale.

The visit coincides with reports that the Vatican was considering whether the Pope would fly to Israel for a meeting with the Russian Orthodox Patriarch.

The Vatican is studying the possibility of extending the Pope’s trip to Lebanon in June so he can fly to Jerusalem to meet Patriarch Kirill, two sources told Reuters on Monday.

Kirill, 75, the patriarch of Moscow, has backed Russia’s war in Ukraine.

The initiative for the visit on which Williams, 71, is taking part came from Rabbi Dr Alon Goshen-Gottstein, the director and founder of the Elijah Interfaith Institute in Israel.

Before a visit yesterday to Chernivtsi, close to Ukraine’s border with Romania, Williams told the Church Times that the participants wanted to ensure Ukrainians knew they were not forgotten. He said: “The purpose is a very modest one: we want to affirm our solidarity with victims of this appalling war, and express thanks for the courage shown by the Ukrainian people.

“We also hope to learn a bit about conditions for refugees in the area we are visiting, and more generally about how people on the ground are viewing the situation.”

Williams, a Russian speaker and an expert on Orthodoxy, had previously backed calls for the Russian Orthodox Church to be excluded from the World Council of Churches, because of its stance on the war in Ukraine.