The Vatican has confirmed that Pope Leo held a phone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin yesterday, offering rare insight into the topics discussed.
Pope Leo — notably the first American to hold the papacy — spoke with Putin on Wednesday, June 4, with the ongoing war in Ukraine taking center stage in their dialogue.
The announcement was somewhat unusual, as the Vatican does not typically disclose details about the pope’s private calls. However, officials revealed that Pope Leo urged Putin to take meaningful steps toward peace and to work toward ending the conflict.
This conversation also helped reiterate Pope Leo’s apparent desire to resolve the conflict in Ukraine as one of his current primary concerns on the global stage.
The Kremlin also confirmed the conversation and stated that Putin appreciated Leo’s offer to help end the war.
Pope Leo and Putin spoke for the first time since he became the leader of the Catholic Church (Maria Grazia Picciarella/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
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.”
Zuppi, the archbishop of Bologna, has been the Vatican’s peace envoy for Ukraine.
According to a Reuters report, the Kremlin statement about the talks said Putin told the Pope Ukraine was intent on ‘escalating’ the war.
The statement said: “The Kyiv regime is banking on escalating the conflict and is carrying out sabotage against civilian infrastructure sites on Russian territory.”
The Kremlin added that the ‘root causes’ of the conflict must be addressed, seemingly a suggestion to Russia’s demands that Ukraine adopt a neutral status and NATO rule out eastward expansion.
The Kremlin argued the root causes of the conflict must be addressed before the war can come to an end (GAVRIIL GRIGOROV/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
US President Donald Trump earlier this week also stated that he had spoken to Putin on the phone about the war in Ukraine.
Speaking about the phone call on Truth Social, Trump said that he spoke for around 75 minutes, but that it would not just yet result in an immediate end to the war.
Trump did hint there could be further escalation as Moscow considers its response to a recent drone attack by Ukraine that destroyed a swath of Russian war planes.
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.”
