By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday invited newly installed Pope Leo XIV to Ukraine during their first phone call, where he also appreciated the Catholic pontiff for calling for peace in Kyiv during Sunday Mass.
“I invited His Holiness to make an apostolic visit to Ukraine. Such a visit would bring real hope to all believers, to all our people,” Zelensky said in a post on social media after the phone call.
They also discussed “the thousands of Ukrainian children deported by Russia”, Zelensky said, adding that Kyiv was counting on the Vatican’s help in bringing them back home.
“No more war!” Pope Leo had urged from the balcony of St Peter’s Basilica to thousands gathered to hear his first prayer on Sunday.
He appealed for a “genuine, just and lasting peace” in Ukraine, re-echoing the position of his predecessor, Pope Francis.
Francis, who never visited Ukraine, had sparked frustration through his failure to clearly condemn Russia for the invasion and by calling for Ukraine to raise the “white flag”.
Kyiv, however, had recognised the Vatican’s efforts in mediating prisoner exchanges and the return of children taken to Russia from occupied parts of Ukraine.
Zelensky also said that he had told Pope Leo about a joint ceasefire offer by Ukraine and its allies and that the two had agreed to “plan an in-person meeting in the near future”.
Russian President Vladimir Putin had on Sunday proposed direct peace talks with Ukraine to end the over three-year invasion of Kyiv by Russian forces.
The direct talks with Ukraine were also welcomed by Zelensky, who said Kyiv was willing to talk, arguing that Moscow must agree to a ceasefire.
“We are proposing that Kyiv resume direct negotiations without any preconditions,” Putin said in a televised statement from the Kremlin that began after 1:30 a.m. on Sunday (2230 GMT Saturday). “We offer the Kyiv authorities to resume negotiations already on Thursday, in Istanbul.”
The war was sparked in February 2022 when Putin dispatched thousands of troops to Ukraine, launching a conflict that has killed hundreds of thousands of soldiers.
French President Emmanuel Macron had also called for a ceasefire to create room for peace talks in Istanbul.
