Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with Pope Leo XIV in Rome on Tuesday, as Kyiv said it was preparing to send “refined” proposals to the United States for ending the war with Russia.
Less than 24 hours after he reiterated that Ukraine would not cede land to Russia, Zelenskyy met with the pontiff before holding talks with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, a day after he met with the leaders of Britain, France and Germany in London.
Thanking the pope for the visit and “all the attention given to our people,” Zelenskyy said in a post on X that he had invited him to visit Ukraine. “This would be a powerful signal of support for our people,” he added.
Ukraine was ready to present "refined" peace proposals to the U.S. "in the near future," Zelenskyy said in later post Tuesday.
St. Peter’s Basilica was the setting for an iconic photo of Zelenskyy sitting face-to-face with President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the funeral for Leo’s predecessor, Pope Francis, in April.
Some interpreted it as a sign that relations between the two leaders were warming, two months after Zelenskyy’s disastrous visit to the White House, which saw Trump and Vice President JD Vance chastise him and tell him he wasn't grateful enough to the U.S.
But seven months on, peace still appears like a distant prospect, although Zelenskyy said Tuesday on X that peace proposals would be sent to the U.S. in “the near future.” He added that “the Ukrainian and European components are now more developed.”
However, he made it clear Monday that Ukraine would not cede any land to Russia. “We have no legal right — under Ukrainian law, under our constitution, under international law — and honestly, we have no moral right, either,” Zelenskyy said in a WhatsApp conversation with journalists.
His Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, has said he wants Ukraine to give up all of it eastern Donbas region, be it diplomatically or by force. Fierce figthing with Ukrainian forces continues in Donetsk, while Russia controls the entirety of Luhansk.
Trump originally approved a 28-point peace plan to end the war that included Ukraine’s ceding its territory, among other demands seen as favoring Russia.
And in an interview published Tuesday, Trump said there was “no question” that the Kremlin was in a better negotiating position. Moscow has the upper hand on the battlefield and was “much stronger” than Ukraine, Trump told Politico, adding that “at some point, size will win, generally.”
He said that he was not ready to walk away from the peace process but that the parties involved have to “play ball.”
Zelenskyy said Monday that negotiations led by the U.S. had whittled the original 28 points to 20 and that while he believed in Trump’s commitment to ending the war, he did not trust Russia.
While the Americans were pushing for Ukraine to give up territory, “we, of course, do not want to give up anything — that is exactly what we are fighting for,” he said. Trump, he added, had “his own vision,” although Ukrainians see “the details and nuances more deeply.”
The Kremlin said it has not yet been briefed on the most recent round of negotiations between American and Ukrainian officials in Florida over the weekend.
After his meeting in London with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Zelenskyy said he had not received a clear answer about what its allies, including the U.S., would be prepared to do in the event of a new Russian aggression.
