Pope Leo’s First Call To Putin Urges “Gesture Of Peace” Amid Ukraine Conflict
The Vatican acknowledged that Pope Leo had a conversation with Vladimir Putin yesterday and even provided details on the topics of their conversation.
In his speech to Russian leader Vladimir Putin on Wednesday, June 4, Pope Leo, the first US pope, unavoidably brought up Russia’s ongoing war with Ukraine.
The Vatican does not often release announcements regarding the phone conversations the pope has, so the announcement that the two had spoken was a little out of the ordinary.
According to reports, Pope Leo urged Putin to move towards peace and the eventual cessation of the war.
This discussion also served to reaffirm Pope Leo’s stated intention to end the Ukrainian war as one of his top priorities right now.
Additionally, the Kremlin acknowledged the discussion and said that Putin was grateful for Leo’s offer to assist in bringing the war to a close.
In a statement, the Vatican said, “The pope made an appeal for Russia to make a gesture that favors peace, emphasizing the importance of dialogue for achieving positive contacts between the parties and seeking solutions to the conflict.”
“There was talk about the humanitarian situation, the need to facilitate aid where necessary, ongoing efforts for the exchange of prisoners, and the value of the work carried out in this regard by Cardinal (Matteo) Zuppi.”
Bologna Archbishop Zuppi has served as the Vatican’s peace ambassador to Ukraine.
The Kremlin statement regarding the talks said that Putin informed the Pope that Ukraine was determined to “escalate” the conflict, according to a Reuters report.
The statement said: “The Kyiv regime is banking on escalating the conflict and is carrying out sabotage against civilian infrastructure sites on Russian territory.”
In an apparent reference to Russia’s demands that Ukraine declare itself neutral and that NATO forbid eastward expansion, the Kremlin went on to say that the “root causes” of the crisis must be addressed.
Earlier this week, US President Donald Trump also claimed to have discussed the crisis in Ukraine with Putin over the phone.
Trump discussed the phone call on Truth Social, stating that he spoke for roughly 75 minutes but that the battle will not end right away.
Trump did allude to the possibility of additional escalation while Moscow mulls over how to react to a recent Ukrainian drone attack that damaged a large number of Russian warplanes.
Trump said, “We discussed the attack on Russia’s docked airplanes, by Ukraine, and also various other attacks that have been taking place by both sides.”
“It was a good conversation, but not a conversation that will lead to immediate peace.”