President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine attended Pope Leo XIV’s inaugural Mass on Sunday, an appearance that came after Leo expressed a personal desire to help end the war with Russia.
The newly elected pope, who said on Friday that he would “make every effort so that this peace may prevail” — and offered to host talks between Ukraine and Russia at the Vatican.
“The Holy See is always ready to help bring enemies together, face to face, to talk to one another,” Leo added. The pope’s secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, said the offer was “the availability of a space” and called the Vatican an “appropriate place” for peace talks.
The U.S. secretary of state, Marco Rubio, said the Vatican could be a venue for Russia-Ukraine peace negotiations, but neither Russia nor Ukraine have indicated whether they would take the pope up on his offer.
On Sunday, Mr. Rubio attended the inaugural Mass, as did Vice President JD Vance. Mr. Zelensky shook hands with the vice president as he arrived.
It was the second time Mr. Zelensky has visited the Holy See in recent weeks. When he attended the funeral of Pope Francis on April 26, Mr. Zelensky met privately with President Trump, which yielded a striking image of the two men facing each other on metal chairs in an ornate hall. It was the first time they had met since a disastrous sit-down at the Oval Office in February.
It was unclear whether the Mass would coincide with any informal meetings on Ukraine. Mr. Zelensky made no mention on social media of whether any sideline discussions would take place. On Saturday, though, he posted that he had met with Prime Minister Mark Carney of Canada and President Karin Keller-Sutter of Switzerland separately in Rome to discuss how to increase pressure on Russia to end the war.
The search for peace in Ukraine has gathered pace in recent weeks. Delegations from the two sides held their first direct talks in Turkey on Friday and later agreed on a prisoner exchange.
Pope Francis, who died on April 21, regularly called for peace in Ukraine.
Since being elected, Leo has signaled a deep interest in ending the war. Last week, he used his first Sunday address to call for an “authentic, just and lasting peace” in Ukraine and for all prisoners of war to be freed. He added that children should be returned to her families. Although he did not specify which children, many Ukrainian children have been taken to Russia against the wishes of their families since the war began.
Matthew Mpoke Bigg is a London-based reporter on the Live team at The Times, which covers breaking and developing news.
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