Pope Leo XIV held his first phone conversation with Russian strongman Vladimir Putin on Wednesday, the Vatican and Kremlin both confirmed a day later, discussing the Church’s humanitarian efforts in Ukraine.
Remarks from the Holy See indicated that Pope Leo emphasized the need for Russia to take productive steps towards ending its ongoing invasion of Ukraine, which began in 2014 with the colonization of Crimea but expanded dramatically with the beginning of the full-scale invasion in 2022. The phone call with Pope Leo occurred on the same day as Putin held an over hour-long conversation with President Donald Trump — one which Trump lamented did not indicate peace would come to Ukraine anytime soon.
Pope Leo was elected to lead the Catholic Church in May following the passing of Pope Francis. He has dedicated much of his early public attention to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, praying and calling for an end to the carnage. The pope met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky shortly after assuming office in May.
In his conversation with Putin on Wednesday, “the pope made an appeal for Russia to take a gesture that would favor peace,” according to Holy See Press Office chief Matteo Bruni, “emphasizing the importance of dialogue to create positive contacts between the parties and seek solutions to the conflict.”
Bruni added that the pope discussed his relationship with the leadership of the Russian Orthodox Church and the importance of a close relationship between the two Churches.
“Pope Leo made reference to Patriarch Kirill, thanking him for the congratulations received at the beginning of his pontificate,” Bruni explained, “and underlined how shared Christian values can be a light that helps to seek peace, defend life, and pursue genuine religious freedom.”
The Vatican added that the two also discussed ongoing prisoner exchanges between Russia and Ukraine.2qa
The Kremlin’s statements on the conversation between its leader and Pope Leo XIV included significant praise for the Vatican. Putin congratulated the pope on taking on the leadership of the Church — the first opportunity that he had to do so since the Conclave — and “gave a very high assessment of the Vatican’s contribution to addressing a number of humanitarian issues [in Ukraine],” according to top Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
“The Vatican has expressed its initiatives and spoken of its openness and readiness to contribute to the settlement in Ukraine,” the Russian news outlet Tass quoted Peskov as telling reporters. “Until now, however, there had been no contact between Putin and the Pope. Putin took this opportunity to congratulate the Pope on his election at the conclave.”
Tass added that “the Russian president expressed his gratitude to the pontiff for his willingness to facilitate a peaceful settlement in Ukraine” but did not discuss the Vatican taking on a formal mediator role in any “specific” way.
The official Kremlin statement on the phone call credited Putin with emphasizing his alleged “willingness to achieve peace through political and diplomatic means, pointing out that in order to reach an ultimate, fair, and thorough resolution, it was necessary to eliminate the root causes of the crisis.”
“Appreciation was expressed to the pontiff for his willingness to contribute to resolving the crisis, notably, for Vatican’s depoliticized participation in solving pressing humanitarian issues,” the statement continued. “Vladimir Putin drew special attention to the fact that Kiev regime was banking on escalating the conflict and carried out sabotage against civilian infrastructure in Russia’s territory.”
Putin also allegedly accused Ukraine of “terrorism” for strikes inside Russian territory.
Putin held a conversation with Trump on the same day, following repeated public condemnations from the White House of Putin targeting civilians with drone strikes in Ukraine. Trump’s statement on the conversation was conciliatory, if not positive, calling the conversation “good” but essentially unproductive on the invasion.
“It was a good conversation, but not a conversation that will lead to immediate Peace,” Trump wrote in a statement on his social media outlet Truth Social.
Trump previously condemned Putin in Truth Social posts for repeatedly ordering drone strikes targeting civilians in Ukraine, killing children.
“He has gone absolutely CRAZY!” Trump wrote of Putin on May 25. “He is needlessly killing a lot of people, and I’m not just talking about soldiers. Missiles and drones are being shot into Cities in Ukraine, for no reason whatsoever.”
“I’ve always said that he wants ALL of Ukraine, not just a piece of it, and maybe that’s proving to be right, but if he does, it will lead to the downfall of Russia!” Trump warned.
The Kremlin responded to that statement by dismissing Trump as “emotional.”
Following the Russian strikes, Ukraine executed a drone attack this weekend that reportedly destroyed dozens of Russian warplanes, outraging Moscow, though notably contrasting with the Russian attacks on civilian targets. Multiple attempts in the past month to bring Putin and Zelensky together for peace talks have failed.
Pope Leo has made ending the Ukraine war a priority of his papacy. During his first Sunday noon blessing after being elected pope, he prayed for the Ukrainian people and an end to the war.
“I carry in my heart the suffering of the beloved Ukrainian people,” he said at the time. “May all prisoners be freed, and may the children be returned to their families.”
The pope also rapidly made time to speak to Zelensky in a conversation that the Ukrainian presidency described as “very warm and truly substantive.”
“I thanked His Holiness for his support of Ukraine and all our people. We deeply value his words about the need to achieve a just and lasting peace for our country and the release of prisoners,” Zelensky wrote at the time, adding that he had invited the pope to visit Ukraine.
Pope Leo and Zelensky met in person at the Vatican a week later, along with other foreign dignitaries visiting the Vatican for the pope’s inaugural Mass.
