Pope Leo Urges Russia and Ukraine to Negotiate Peace

Pope Leo XIV, the first U.S.-born pope, urged Russia and Ukraine on September 28 to sit down and negotiate an end to their four-year war, warning during a press conference aboard his return flight to Rome that international efforts to end the conflict risk becoming a charade.¹³¹⁰

Call for concessions in Metz

Addressing European leaders in Metz, the French city associated with EU founding father Robert Schuman, Pope Leo said negotiators seeking to end wars in Europe must be prepared to sacrifice some of their positions to achieve peace. "We need to show courage in negotiations and be ready to give up certain positions for the sake of the greater good — peace," he said, according to the dossier's account of his remarks.¹⁷

He further warned against treating a military buildup as a cure, stating, "We must also beware of the illusion that rearmament is the answer." This came at a time when Europe's defense budgets had climbed more sharply in the previous year than at any point since the Cold War ended, a jump some observers linked to pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump and to Russia's ongoing aggression.⁶⁷⁸

The pope described war as having returned to the continent, saying, "war has returned, even to Europe: a new senseless slaughter, claiming countless civilian lives every day." His speech in Metz reportedly received a standing ovation.⁶⁸

Warnings on the flight to Rome

Talking with reporters on the flight, Pope Leo observed that heads of state were starting to discuss nuclear arms and ever more devastating warfare, adding that the Catholic Church, with its roughly 1.4 billion faithful, "has an obligation to call for peace and respect of human life."³¹⁰

He argued that the UN and similar international institutions were faltering, and questioned whether ongoing efforts represented true peacemaking or simply a bid to contain the fighting's spread. The Hindu reported that he further argued armed conflict worsens problems rather than resolving them, and breeds suffering and hatred instead of security, pointing to missile and drone strikes leveling homes and houses of worship in Ukraine.¹⁴⁷

Vatican contacts with Moscow

The pope's remarks coincided with renewed Vatican diplomatic activity. TASS reported that Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, who serves as the pope's envoy on Ukraine, landed in Moscow on September 28 for a third trip, aiming to advance humanitarian solutions.⁹

The Kyiv Independent reported that Paul Richard Gallagher, who oversees the Vatican's relations with states, traveled to Moscow in late August for what the outlet called the two sides' first in-person meeting since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in 2022. Gallagher acknowledged substantial differences remained between Moscow and the Holy See.²⁹

European backdrop

The pope's visit unfolded against a backdrop of political and humanitarian strain in Europe. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met Donald Trump in New York to discuss ending the war, while Russia's invasion, launched in 2022, has seized a fifth of Ukrainian territory, with neither side showing willingness to concede land.⁶⁸

Pope Leo called on Europe's leaders to welcome migrants "as if they were part of one's own family," remarks made the same day a trio of migrants, one of them a child, lost their lives while trying to cross from France to Britain over the Channel. He has previously criticized U.S. anti-immigration policies under President Trump.⁶⁸

French President Emmanuel Macron praised the European Union as a project founded on the "primacy of the person and the free and rational individual," as the pope urged leaders to recall the bloc's founding values of peace and equality, at a moment when far-right movements, including France's National Rally led by Marine Le Pen, were reported to be gaining strength.⁵⁶⁷⁸