BREAKING: Zelensky meets Pope Leo XIV at Vatican, scheduled to have private talks

President Volodymyr Zelensky met with Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican on May 18, following the pontiff's inauguration mass, according to Vatican News.

According to Sky News, the Ukrainian president is also scheduled to have a private meeting with the Pope this afternoon.

The visit marked Zelensky's first in-person meeting with the new pope, formerly Cardinal Robert Prevost, who was elected head of the Catholic Church on May 8.

During the inauguration mass, Zelensky was accompanied by First Lady Olena Zelenska and Presidential Office head Andriy Yermak.

The event drew 250,000 pilgrims and 156 foreign delegations, including U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and U.S. Vice President JD Vance, who met Pope Francis shortly before his death.

President Volodymyr Zelensky and U.S. Vice President JD Vance (r) greet each other in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican on May 18 (Michael Kappeler/picture alliance via Getty Images)

A day before the event, Rubio said that the Vatican could serve as a neutral venue for future peace negotiations between Kyiv and Moscow.

Speaking in Rome before his meeting with Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, the Vatican's envoy on Ukraine, Rubio noted that "both sides would be comfortable" holding talks there.

On May 11, during his first public address, the pope said he carried the "suffering of the beloved people of Ukraine" in his heart and called for an "authentic and lasting peace."

Zelensky had his first phone call with Pope Leo XIV on May 12, describing the conversation as "warm" and "substantive." On May 18, the pontiff received a list of Ukrainian prisoners of war held by Russia.

Before becoming pope, Leo XIV denounced Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine while serving as Bishop of Chiclayo in Peru. In a 2022 interview, he described it as "a true invasion, imperialist in nature, where Russia seeks to conquer territory for reasons of power."