In call with Putin, Pope Leo urges Russia to support peace

MOSCOW/VATICAN CITY (Reuters) -Pope Leo urged Russia to take steps towards ending the conflict in Ukraine when he spoke to President Vladimir Putin for the first time, the Vatican said on Wednesday.

"The pope made an appeal for Russia to make a gesture that favours peace, emphasising the importance of dialogue for achieving positive contacts between the parties and seeking solutions to the conflict," the Vatican said.

It confirmed that Leo, the first U.S. pope, had spoken by telephone to Putin on Wednesday afternoon. The readout of the call was unusual for the Vatican, which does not always issue statements about papal phone calls.

"There was talk about the humanitarian situation, the need to facilitate aid where necessary, ongoing efforts for the exchange of prisoners, and the value of the work carried out in this regard by Cardinal (Matteo) Zuppi," the Vatican added. Zuppi, the archbishop of Bologna, has been the Vatican's peace envoy for Ukraine.

Putin for his part thanked Leo, who became pontiff almost four weeks ago, for offering to help settle the conflict and told him Ukraine was intent on "escalating" the war, the Kremlin said.

U.S. President Donald Trump has previously said the pope offered to host Russia-Ukraine negotiations at the Vatican. 

But Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and other officials have said the Vatican is not a suitable site for peace talks between two largely Orthodox Christian countries.

Putin highlighted "that the Kyiv regime is banking on escalating the conflict and is carrying out sabotage against civilian infrastructure sites on Russian territory," the statement said, describing those acts as terrorism.

The Kremlin restated that the conflict's "root causes" must be addressed, a reference to Russian demands that Ukraine adopt a neutral status and NATO rule out eastward expansion.

Russia has sought to cultivate good ties with the new pope and his predecessor, Francis, especially on humanitarian issues, like family reunifications.

The Vatican statement thanked Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill for his greetings when Leo was elected. Pope Francis had been critical of Kirill's support for Putin.

The Russian statement expressed hope the Vatican would "take a more active role" in calling for freedom of religion in Ukraine for members of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church that has historic links to Russia.  

Ukrainian authorities have launched criminal proceedings against many of its clergy because of suspected sympathies for Moscow. A separate Kyiv-based Ukrainian Orthodox Church, formally recognised in 2019, has grown larger in Ukraine during the war.  

(Reporting by Maxim Rodionov and Joshua McElwee; Writing by Keith Weir and Ron Popeski: Editing by Leslie Adler, Cynthia Osterman and Alistair Bell)