“I confirm that this afternoon there was a telephone conversation between Pope Leo XIV and President Putin,” said Matteo Bruni, director of the Holy See Press Office, on the evening of June 4, 2025. The Russian news agency Tass had reported earlier in the day that Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov had announced that a conversation had taken place between the two leaders.
This is the highest-level contact between Russia and the Holy See since the start of Russia's large-scale offensive in Ukraine on February 24, 2022.
“In addition to issues of mutual interest, particular attention was paid to the situation in Ukraine and peace,” Bruni said simply.
He added that “the Pope called on Russia to make a gesture that could promote peace” and stressed “the importance of dialogue for establishing positive contacts between the parties and seeking solutions to the conflict.”
Leo XIV also spoke with Putin “about the humanitarian situation, the need to promote aid where necessary, the ongoing efforts for the exchange of prisoners, and the value of the work being done in this regard by Cardinal Zuppi.”
This mention therefore confirms, on the part of Leo XIV, the mandate given by Francis to the Italian cardinal to mediate between Russia and Ukraine.
“Pope Leo referred to Patriarch Kirill, thanking him for the wishes received at the beginning of his pontificate, and emphasized how common Christian values can be a light that helps to seek peace, defend life, and seek authentic religious freedom,” Bruni added.
Russia, for its part, said that Vladimir Putin “drew the Pope's attention to the escalation of the Ukrainian conflict by the Kiev regime,” while thanking him for “his willingness to resolve the conflict in Ukraine.”
The Kremlin said that the Russian president “reiterated his interest in achieving peace in Ukraine through political and diplomatic means” and expressed his hope “that the Holy See will continue its efforts to promote religious freedom in Ukraine,” an allusion to the ban on Orthodox parishes in Ukraine from remaining affiliated with the Moscow Patriarchate.
Last year, Pope Francis expressed his opposition to this Ukrainian law.
New impetus
This telephone conversation is the first contact at this level since the start of Russia's large-scale offensive in Ukraine on February 24, 2022, which has given new momentum to the war in the region ongoing since 2014.
Despite Pope Francis' surprise visit to the Russian Embassy to the Holy See on February 25, 2022, the day after the invasion, and his numerous overtures to Russia, which earned him criticism in Ukraine, Pope Francis never managed to reestablish direct communication with Vladimir Putin.
The Argentine pontiff had previously received the Russian president three times at the Vatican in 2013, 2015, and 2019, and had spoken with him several times on the phone. Their last telephone conversation took place on Pope Francis' 85th birthday in December 2021.
Last month, the Russian president, whose contacts with most European countries are almost non-existent except for Hungary and Slovakia, welcomed the election of the new pope.
“I am sure that the constructive dialogue and interaction established between Russia and the Vatican will continue to develop on the basis of the Christian values that unite us,” Putin said in a congratulatory message published by the Kremlin.
During the installation Mass for Leo XIV on May 18, the Russian Federation was to be represented by Culture Minister Olga Lyubimova, who had already attended Pope Francis' funeral Mass, but she was ultimately unable to attend due to a technical issue with her flight. According to our information, the Kremlin had considered sending former President Dmitry Medvedev (2008-2012) to Rome.
Trump also spoke with Putin
US President Donald Trump, who had expressed support for the Vatican hosting negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, also spoke by telephone with Vladimir Putin on June 4.
President Trump acknowledged that there was no prospect of immediate peace in Ukraine and that Moscow was preparing a response to recent Ukrainian strikes on Russian air bases.
For its part, the Kremlin described the conversation as "positive" and “productive,” saying that the two presidents would “remain in constant contact.”
