Overview

• During the June 4 call, Pope Leo appealed for a gesture favoring peace and stressed the importance of dialogue to resolve the Ukraine conflict.
• Vladimir Putin expressed gratitude for the Vatican’s offer to help settle the crisis and support depoliticized humanitarian efforts.
• The leaders discussed boosting aid delivery, facilitating prisoner exchanges and returning the remains of servicemen as signs of humanitarian progress.
• The Kremlin reiterated its conditions for peace, insisting on Ukrainian neutrality and a halt to NATO’s eastward expansion.
• Despite the pontiff’s invitation to host negotiations, Russian officials have questioned the Vatican’s suitability as a venue for talks between Orthodox-majority countries.