Pope Leo XIV urged the public to pray for “the common good” to be reached in the peace talks between Russia and Ukraine.
The pope issued his call on Sunday morning, one day before Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will travel to the White House to meet with President Donald Trump. Russian President Vladimir Putin met with Trump in Alaska on Friday, which Trump hailed as a “very successful day” but that did not result in a ceasefire or peace deal.
“Let us pray that efforts to bring wars to an end and to promote peace may bear fruit, and that in negotiations the common good of peoples may always be placed first,” Leo posted on X.
Leo has called for an end to over three-year war before and previously offered the Vatican as a venue for peace talks between Russia and Ukraine.
While those direct talks never materialized, a trilateral meeting between Trump, Putin, and Zelensky could be coming after Zelensky meets with Trump on Monday.
At his White House visit, the Ukrainian president will be accompanied by several European Union leaders.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio was clear on Sunday that those leaders are not joining Zelensky to prevent him from getting “bullied” into a deal, but rather because “they chose to come here tomorrow.”
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Some agreements in a potential peace deal appear to have already been ironed out, including “Article 5 security guarantees” for Ukraine, according Middle East special envoy Steve Witkoff, who was at the Trump-Putin Alaska summit.
Trump has also teased the progress made thus far, posting on Truth Social Sunday morning that “BIG PROGRESS” has been made on Russia, encouraging the public to “STAY TUNED.”