Pope offer to host Russia-Ukraine talks welcomed by international leaders

Rome: Pope Leo XIV has offered to host Russia Ukraine peace talks in a gesture welcomed by US and European leaders, Italy s Prime Minister Georgia Mel...

Rome: Pope Leo XIV has offered to host Russia-Ukraine peace talks in a gesture welcomed by US and European leaders, Italy's Prime Minister Georgia Meloni said on Monday. US President Donald Trump and a number of European leaders discussed the offer in a call after Trump spoke with Russia's President Vladimir Putin, Meloni said in a statement.

She said "the availability of the holy father to welcome the talks at the Vatican was judged positively".

After Putin call, Trump says Ukraine talks to start 'immediately'

Trump said that Russia and Ukraine would immediately start ceasefire talks after he spoke with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin Monday, but the Kremlin leader fell short of agreeing to the unconditional truce proposed by Washington. Trump painted a more upbeat picture of the situation after the two-hour call, as he desperately seeks a deal to end a grinding conflict that he had promised on the election trail to solve within 24 hours. Putin said he was ready to work with Kyiv on a memorandum towards a possible peace deal after the "useful" call -- but insisted that more compromises were necessary to end the war Moscow launched in February 2022. "Just completed my two-hour call with President Vladimir Putin of Russia. I believe it went very well," Trump said on his Truth Social network. "Russia and Ukraine will immediately start negotiations toward a Ceasefire and, more importantly, an END to the War." Trump added that the "tone and spirit of the conversation were excellent," after the US president had shown signs of increasing frustration with the Kremlin leader. Trump recently called for a 30-day unconditional ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia. Kyiv agreed, but Putin has so far held off on any such truce.