Pope Leo: Vatican maintains neutrality in Russia–Ukraine war

Pope Leo with Zelensky. Photo: Tanjug

Pope Leo XIV declared that the Vatican has been making efforts from the start of the war to maintain a neutral position in the Russian–Ukrainian conflict. The pontiff shared this in an interview with Crux.

“The Holy See, since the war began, has made great efforts to maintain a position that, as difficult as it might be, [is not] one side or the other, but truly neutral,” Pope Leo said.

The pontiff acknowledged that some of his statements could have been interpreted in different ways but emphasized the importance of the Vatican’s neutrality. He also noted the distinction between calling for peace and acting as a mediator, considering the latter less realistic at present.

“To think of the Vatican as a mediator, even the couple of times that we have offered to host meetings of negotiations between Ukraine and Russia, either in the Vatican or some other church property, I’m very well aware of what the implications of that are,” he stressed.

The pope also expressed hope that various members of the international community would persistently urge Russia and Ukraine to say “enough” and to seek other means of resolving their disagreements.

"I have high hopes in human nature [...] You can have hope, and you keep trying to push and say to people, let’s do this in a different way," the pontiff concluded.

Earlier, the UOJ reported that Zelensky had called on Pope Leo to compel Russia to end the war.

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