The Ukrainian president held talks with Pope Leo XIV on Wednesday, ahead of the fourth Ukraine Recovery Conference which is taking place this week in Rome.
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Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Pope Leo XIV on Wednesday discussed the Vatican as a possible location to host peace talks to end Russia's full-scale invasion.
Zelenskyy held talks with the pope at his summer retreat in Castel Gandolfo ahead of the fourth Ukraine Recovery Conference taking place on Thursday and Friday in Rome.
The Vatican said Pope Leo XIV and Zelenskyy discussed the conflict and "the urgent need for a just and lasting peace".
"The Holy Father expressed his sorrow for the victims and renewed his prayers and closeness to the Ukrainian people, encouraging every effort aimed at the release of prisoners and the search for shared solutions," a Vatican statement said.
"The Holy Father reiterated the willingness to welcome representatives of Russia and Ukraine to the Vatican for negotiations."
The United States had indicated the Vatican could host possible peace talks between Ukraine and Russia, but Moscow hasn’t accepted it.
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Zelenskyy said he thanked the pope for the Vatican's efforts to help reunite children taken by Russia after Moscow's 2022 invasion.
He asked for continued help and prayers "to get back our children stolen by Russia during this war."
'Senseless war'
Pope Francis had named an envoy, Italian Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, to try to facilitate the return of children and find "paths to peace" between the two sides.
After an initial burst of shuttle diplomacy and visits to Kyiv, Moscow, Washington and Beijing, Zuppi’s efforts appear to have slowed, at least in the public sphere.
The Russian government has faced international condemnation over unlawful deportations of Ukrainian families, including children, to Russia following Putin’s order for Russian troops to launch a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022.
Ukraine has been able to verify the deportation of more than 19,500 Ukrainian children to Russia.
Only 1,350 have so far been returned home, with each return mediated by a third-party state, notably the Vatican, Qatar and South Africa.
The Vatican has not disclosed details about its efforts on helping the return of the Ukrainian children or how many children have been returned.
Pope Leo XIV has been a strong supporter of Ukraine and denounced the "senseless war," meeting recently with the Ukrainian Greek Catholic bishops and pilgrims.
"It is not easy to find words of consolation for the families who have lost loved ones in this senseless war," he told the bishops who visited last week.
"I imagine it is also for you, who are in daily contact with people wounded in heart and flesh."