Zelensky Talks Peace with Pope Ahead of Ukraine Recovery Conference
ROME, ITALY, JUL 9 – Zelensky met Pope Leo XIV to discuss peace efforts and Ukraine’s reconstruction with support from 2,000 companies and 40 international organizations, amid ongoing Russian attacks.
- On July 9, 2025, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met with Pope Leo XIV at the pontiff’s summer retreat in Castel Gandolfo to discuss peace efforts and the reconstruction of Ukraine.
- The meeting took place shortly after Russia launched its most intense missile and drone assault in over three years, with both parties renewing discussions about the possibility of holding peace negotiations at the Vatican despite Russia previously rejecting the idea.
- Italian Cardinal Matteo Zuppi was named envoy by Pope Francis to facilitate the return of abducted Ukrainian children and to find 'paths to peace' between Ukraine and Russia.
- Zelensky expressed a desire for peace and looked to the Vatican and the Pope for assistance in hosting a high-level summit aimed at ending the conflict, while also expressing gratitude for the Vatican’s role in facilitating the return of Ukrainian children.
- The meeting aimed to mobilize support, including private investment, for Ukraine's recovery, while the Holy Father renewed prayers for victims and welcomed both sides to Vatican negotiations.
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54 Articles
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It is almost impossible for two countries with a very large Orthodox majority to find themselves in the heart of the Catholic Church, that is, in the Vatican, in order to negotiate peace. Leo XIV knows this very well, as Pope Francis knew, and the Secretariat of State has always known. Yet, in the second private audience in just two months of pontificate, this time in the frame of Villa Barberini at Castel Gandolfo, where the Pontiff is spending…
Zelensky was received by the Pope in his summer residence in Castel Gandolfo, where Leão XIV is spending a few days of rest and asked him for a "high-level" meeting to end the war.
On a visit to the Italian capital, the Ukrainian President met Leon XIV, who reaffirmed "the importance of dialogue as a privileged means of ending hostilities", reports the Vatican in a statement.
Ukrainian President Selenskyi travelled to Italy for a conference on the reconstruction of his homeland. Pope Leo XIV offered peace talks between Moscow and Kyyiv in the Vatican at a meeting with him.
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