In what is believed to be the first phone contact between the newly elected pope and a foreign leader, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he spoke with Pope Leo XIV on Monday regarding ceasefire offers.
Zelenskiy asked the pope to visit Ukraine and described his first meeting with the new pope as “very warm and truly substantive” in a post on the Telegram app.
He claimed that the two had discussed attempts to negotiate an end to their conflict as well as the forcible removal of Ukrainian children from Ukraine by Russia following its full-scale invasion of that country.
Matteo Bruni, a Vatican spokesperson, told Newsline that a call had been placed. Regarding the call’s substance, he made no additional remarks.
Pope Francis, who passed away on April 21, had a complicated connection with Ukraine.
As an unwarranted act of aggression, the late pope denounced Russia’s war on Ukraine and referred to Ukraine as a “martyred nation.” At least twice a week, Francis appealed for peace throughout almost all of his public appearances.
His suggestion that Ukraine should sue for peace to stop the death and damage, however, and his failure to specifically denounce Russian leader Vladimir Putin as the aggressor, disappointed many Ukrainians.
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