Pope Leo XIV had a phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Monday and spoke about ceasefire proposals, Zelenskiy said, in the first known conversation between the newly-elected pontiff and a foreign leader.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy appealed to Pope Leo XIV, asking the new pope for help in bringing home children deported from Ukraine to Russia. The Ukrainian president also said he invited the new pope to visit Ukraine and the two men "agreed to stay in contact and plan (an) in-person meeting in the near future."

Pope Leo XIV is vowing to actively promote and protect the spirituality and traditions of the eastern rite churches, those Catholic communities with origins in the Middle East and North Africa that have been decimated by conflict and persecution.

Pope Leo XIV, the first American to head the global Catholic Church, pledged on Wednesday to make "every effort" for peace and offered the Vatican as a mediator in global conflicts, saying war was "never inevitable".

Pope Leo XIV may visit Ukraine on his first foreign trip - Türkiye and Peru are also under consideration, La Repubblica reports. Visit to Ukraine According to the media outlet, one of the potential countries for the Pope's first visit could be Ukraine,

P olitical figures around the world have congratulated Robert Francis Prevost, now known as Pope Leo XIV, after his election on Thursday, May 8, as Pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church. Hailing from Chicago and a dual U.S.-Peru national, Prevost is the first North American Pope and second from the Americas, after his late predecessor Francis.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy spoke by phone with newly elected Pope Leo XIV on Monday and said they discussed Ukrainian children abducted by Russia and a proposal from allies for a 30-day ceasefire which Moscow has so far not accepted.