The US and European leaders are placing their hopes in the Vatican to engage Russia and Ukraine in peace talks, after President Donald Trump said Pope Leo XIV had expressed interest in the idea. The Kremlin isn’t so keen.

The conversation took place after Meloni held phone talks with US President Donald Trump and other European leaders. Read also: Pope Leo XIV urges lasting peace in Ukraine in first public address “Having received confirmation from His Holiness of the Vatican’s readiness to host future talks between the parties,

Pope Leo XIV expressed his willingness to host the next round of talks in the Vatican to bring the end of Russia's war in Ukraine closer, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said on May 20, according to the Italian government's website.