Asger Risom
The American pontiff’s historic phone conversation with Vladimir Putin underscores the Vatican’s hopes to play a bigger role.
In an unprecedented move, Pope Leon XIV spoke directly with Russian President Vladimir Putin by phone on Wednesday, urging him to take meaningful action toward peace with Ukraine. According to the Vatican, the pontiff initiated the conversation and emphasized the importance of dialogue and mutual understanding as paths to resolving the ongoing war.
A call for peace—and a humanitarian appeal
The Vatican’s unusually detailed statement on the call revealed that Pope Leon appealed for a humanitarian gesture, highlighting the urgent need for aid delivery, prisoner exchanges, and reconciliation efforts led by Vatican peace envoy Cardinal Matteo Zuppi.
The call marks the first direct contact between the newly elected pope—America’s first—and the Russian leader.
The pontiff “underlined the importance of dialogue for achieving positive contact between the parties and seeking solutions to the conflict,” according to Digi24.
Putin reportedly thanked the pope for his offer of assistance but accused Ukraine of escalating the war and conducting sabotage against civilian infrastructure in Russia.
Kremlin cautious on Vatican mediation
While U.S. President Donald Trump recently announced that the pope had offered to host peace talks at the Vatican, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and other officials pushed back, saying the Catholic center might not be a neutral venue for negotiations between predominantly Orthodox nations.
Nonetheless, both sides acknowledged ongoing humanitarian efforts. Moscow highlighted its efforts to reunite displaced children with their families—an issue that remains deeply contentious due to an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court against Putin for the abduction of Ukrainian children.
During the call, Putin reiterated that resolving the war requires addressing its ‘fundamental causes’, including Russia’s demand for Ukrainian neutrality and a halt to NATO’s eastward expansion.
The Vatican also took the opportunity to thank Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill for his congratulations following Leon XIV’s election. The former pope, Francis, had criticized Kirill for backing the Kremlin during the war—further highlighting the sensitivities surrounding religious authority and geopolitical conflict.
In a nod to ongoing tensions, the Kremlin said it hopes the Vatican will take “a more active role” in defending religious freedoms for Orthodox communities in Ukraine, some of whom face criminal investigations for alleged pro-Russian sympathies.