Overview

• Pope Leo XIV received President Volodímir Zelenski at his Castel Gandolfo summer residence and formally offered the Vatican to host high-level negotiations between Russia and Ukraine.
• The pontiff stressed dialogue as the privileged path to end hostilities, expressed pain for war victims and renewed calls for prisoner releases.
• Zelenski traveled to Rome to co-chair the IV International Conference on Reconstruction of Ukraine with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, seeking sustained international backing for rebuilding efforts.
• Hours before the papal audience, Russia launched its largest single-day aerial assault since February 2022 with 741 attack drones and missiles across Ukrainian territory.
• Russia’s Human Rights Commissioner Tatiana Moskalkova sent Pope Leo XIV a letter requesting Vatican assistance in repatriating Russian citizens detained in Ukraine.