Pope Leo XIV Offers the Vatican for Peace Talks Between Putin and Zelensky

• Pope Leo XIV Offers Vatican to Putin and Zelensky for Dialogue
• Robert Prevost Seeks to Restart Peace With Vatican Summit
• Proposal Would Host Peace Summit Between Ukraine and Russia

Pope Leo XIV, through his Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, has proposed offering the Vatican as the venue for a possible direct meeting between Presidents Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky.

The offer aims to revive dialogue.

This, following the failure of the Istanbul negotiations.

This was reported by Newsweek.

Pope Leo XIV Offers Vatican to Putin and Zelensky for Talks

🇻🇦 | Pope Leo XIV has offered the Vatican as a venue for peace negotiations between Russia and Ukraine.
— Alerta Mundial (@AlertaMundoNews), May 16, 2025

The Vatican’s proposal comes at a time of heightened tension.

This follows the collapse of the first round of direct negotiations in over three years between Ukraine and Russia, which failed due to Moscow’s demands being deemed “unacceptable.”

Pope Leo XIV seeks to position himself as a mediator.

Particularly in a conflict that has stalled international peace efforts.

Key Details

#May16 | Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican Secretary of State, announced that Pope Leo XIV has offered the Holy See as a venue for negotiations between Russia and Ukraine.

“In practical terms, I believe this means making the Holy See available to both parties…” pic.twitter.com/6wuyfogx0J
— El Diario (@eldiario), May 16, 2025

Parolin described the outcome of the Istanbul talks as “tragic,” noting that Russia sent a low-level delegation and rejected a face-to-face meeting with Zelensky.

The Ukrainian government accused Moscow of introducing unacceptable demands, including the withdrawal of Ukrainian forces from Russian-occupied territories.

From the Holy See, Parolin stated that the Vatican is willing to serve as a neutral venue for direct dialogue between Putin and Zelensky, although he acknowledged that the situation remains “very difficult and dramatic.”

The proposal comes shortly after a meeting between Trump and Zelensky during Pope Francis’s funeral in Rome, where both leaders agreed to intensify international pressure on Putin.

Trump Expresses Desire to Meet With Putin

Meanwhile, President Trump, speaking from the United Arab Emirates, expressed his desire to meet with Putin “as soon as possible” and asserted that “nothing will change until we sit down face to face.”

This was reported by Newsweek.

Trump criticized the stalled peace negotiations and lamented the human toll of the war, describing it as “a war that’s going nowhere.”

For its part, the Kremlin stated it was satisfied with the progress of the talks, mentioning a preliminary agreement on prisoner exchange, though it stopped short of committing to an immediate ceasefire.

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