Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has invited the new Pope Leo XIV to visit the country after holding his first phone call with the pontiff on Monday.
“Such a visit would bring real hope to all believers and to all our people,” Zelensky wrote on X after what he called a “warm and truly substantive” discussion with the new head of the Catholic Church.
The Vatican did not initially comment on the invitation.
Zelensky is expected to attend the mass for the inauguration of the new pope at the Vatican on Sunday.
Ukraine has been fighting to repel a full-scale Russian invasion since February 2022.
The newly elected U.S.-born pope expressed his solidarity with the “beloved Ukrainian people” in his first Sunday prayer in front of more than 100,000 people.
“May everything possible be done to reach an authentic, just and lasting peace, as soon as possible,” said Leo XIV.
“May all prisoners be released and the children be able to return to their families,” he said in apparent reference to thousands of Ukrainian children thought to have been taken to Russia since 2022.
In referring to a “just peace,” Leo adopted Kiev’s choice of words.
Ukraine uses the term to emphasise its demand for the inviolability of its territory.
Russia, on the other hand, is demanding that its neighbour cede large areas of territory in return for peace.
Zelensky reported a “warm and really substantive dialogue,” and that he and the pope had agreed to remain in contact and to plan a personal meeting in the near future.
The Vatican had tried to mediate between Ukraine and Russia over the past three years, but without much success. (dpa/NAN)
