Pope Leo, Putin discuss Ukraine war; Vatican calls for peace, Kremlin focuses on ‘root causes’

Pope Leo discussed the ongoing war in Ukraine with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday.

Since taking over as the Vicar of Christ last month, this was Leo’s first call with Putin. While Leo stressed the need for a ceasefire and referred to the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine, Putin spoke of the purported Ukrainian aggression and repeated his maximalist demands.

“The Pope made an appeal for Russia to take a gesture that would favor peace, emphasising the importance of dialogue to create positive contacts between the parties and seek solutions to the conflict,” the Vatican said in a statement.

The conversation came at a time when Ukraine and Russia are holding direct talks hosted by Turkey. The talks have come amid increasing violence as Russia has continued to launch hundreds of drones and missiles on a near-daily basis lately. On Sunday, Ukraine launched a drone attack on five Russian airbases and destroyed nearly a third of Russia’s long-range, nuclear-capable bomber and surveillance fleets.

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In its readout, the Kremlin said that Putin told Leo that “root causes” needs to be addressed for their to be an “ultimate, fair, and thorough resolution”.

"Root causes" is how Putin and his top officials refer to their maximalist demands for the end of the Ukraine war. Such demands essentially amount to Ukraine’s surrender and the cessation of Ukrainian neighbourhood.

These maximalist demands include the complete surrender of five Ukrainian provinces that Russia claims and Russian occupation’s international recognition; limits on post-war Ukrainian military; amendments to Ukrainian constitution to include Russian language in official business, a ban on nationalist bodies in Ukraine, and other changes; creation of a buffer zone on Ukraine’s side of the envisioned new border; etc.

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The Kremlin said that Putin “drew special attention to the fact that the Kyiv regime was banking on escalating the conflict and carried out sabotage against civilian infrastructure” in Russia.

Before taking over as the Pope, Leo had condemned the Russian war on Ukraine as “a true invasion, imperialist in nature, where Russia seeks to conquer territory for reasons of power”. The approach was in sharp contrast to then-Pope Francis’ stand on the conflict, who was often criticised for taking a softer position and not directly condemning Russia for invading Ukraine.