Pope Leo XIV telephoned Russian President Vladimir Putin from his hospital bed at Rome's Gemelli polyclinic, urging a truce in Ukraine and offering the Holy See as a channel for dialogue, the Vatican said in an official statement. The call, made on Friday, marked the pontiff's most direct personal intervention in the war since his election in May 2025.
According to the Holy See, the Pope voiced «deep concern over the grave humanitarian crisis» in the Ukrainian town of Oleshky, in the Kherson region, and called for «a truce that would allow food and medical aid to arrive, as well as the voluntary and safe evacuation of the civilian population» from the settlement under occupation. The Vatican confirmed the conversation while Leo XIV remains hospitalized after surgeons removed part of a lung on Tuesday following a diagnosis of adenocarcinoma.
The call came on the pontiff's fourth day of convalescence. Medical bulletins report a «constant improvement» and note that he has regained his autonomy, though his official schedule has been suspended until October 20. Even so, he has resumed selected activities, including the conversation with Putin and, later in the day, his first visits since the operation: Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, recently appointed dean of the College of Cardinals, and Cardinal Baldassare Reina, his vicar for the Diocese of Rome.
Since his election, the American-born Pope has made the war in Ukraine a recurring theme of his ministry, repeatedly appealing publicly for an end to hostilities and offering the Vatican as a venue for eventual negotiations between Kyiv and Moscow. His first contact with the Russian president came on June 4 of that year, when he pressed for a «gesture that favors peace» in Ukraine. He has also received Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the Vatican on multiple occasions.
The Pope's most recent public remarks on the conflict came after the Angelus prayer last Sunday, shortly before he disclosed his lung cancer diagnosis to the world. Speaking from the window of the Apostolic Palace, he urged that grain trade in the Black Sea be guaranteed, warning that many impoverished countries depend on imports of the staple food. «The war in martyred Ukraine continues to cause suffering even far beyond its borders, especially in the poorest countries, where so many people depend on grain imports,» he said. He then issued an «urgent» appeal to the parties to «allow the safe transport of grain through the Black Sea,» stressing that «the daily bread of millions of people cannot be held hostage by war.»
The Russian response offered little sign of de-escalation. Putin said the creation of a security zone along the border would not be subject to negotiations. During a visit to an auxiliary command post of the Joint Group of Forces, the Russian head of state said that after Ukrainian forces crossed into the Kursk region, Russian troops were ordered not only to expel the enemy but also to establish such a buffer zone, a task he said is being carried out successfully. «Our goal is to guarantee absolute security in Russia's border territories in the future, and we do not intend to make this an object of possible peace negotiations with Ukraine,» Putin said.
The exchange places the Vatican once again at the center of diplomatic efforts around the war, even as the Pope governs from a hospital ward. For the Holy See, the appeal rests on humanitarian grounds rather than political mediation: the immediate aim is relief for civilians in Oleshky and the reopening of food and medical corridors, with the broader offer of a negotiating venue left on the table.