Delegations from more than 100 countries were on hand at the Vatican. Zelenskiy was greeted by some applause as he arrived in St. Peter’s Square, and Leo was cheered as he took a popemobile tour through the piazza.
The pontiff is expected to meet later on Sunday with Ukraine’s leader. Leo will meet with Vance on Monday, the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera reported, citing Vatican sources.Zelenskiy was seated at the Mass next to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, with Vance close by. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni been pushing for a meeting between the Brussels-based leader and the US administration as a trade war looms, and their proximity on Sunday may help pave the way.
As the first US-born pontiff, 69-year-old Leo has so far focused his message on achieving peace in Ukraine and Gaza, signaling that he might continue — or expand — the geopolitical engagement of his predecessor, Pope Francis.
During the Mass, Leo vowed to work for a united church and a reconciled world. “We still see too much discord, too many wounds caused by hatred, violence, prejudice, the fear of difference, and an economic paradigm that exploits the Earth’s resources and marginalizes the poorest,” he said during the Mass of Inauguration of his pontificate.
Pope Leo mentioned “new hostilities” in Myanmar as well as the conflicts in Gaza, where “children, family and the elderly are reduced to starvation,” and Ukraine, which he said awaits “negotiations for a just and lasting peace.”
Televised Clash
President Donald Trump, Zelenskiy and Vance last met at the White House in February, when they clashed over the future of peace in Ukraine in a televised meeting described as one of the worst diplomatic incidents in recent history.
During that meeting, Vance asked Zelenskiy if he had “ever said thank you once” for billions of dollars in aid delivered to the war-torn country by the US since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022.
Trump and Zelenskiy met again in the Vatican last month at the funeral of Pope Francis, a brief discussion that the White House described as hopeful and Zelenskiy called “substantive.”
Negotiations in Istanbul last week between Ukrainian and Russian teams failed to yield a breakthrough on a potential ceasefire. Trump on Monday plans to call Putin and Zelenskiy separately, he announced on Saturday, in a bid to stop the “bloodbath” in Ukraine.
