According to an official statement from the Holy See, the two leaders discussed the ongoing conflict and “the urgency of pursuing just and lasting paths of peace.”

Pope Leo told visiting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Wednesday that the Vatican is willing to host Russia-Ukraine peace talks, the Vatican said in a statement. The pope, meeting the Ukrainian leader for the second time in his two-month-old papacy,

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has met with Pope Leo XIV and thanked him for the Vatican’s efforts to help return children taken by Russia during the war.