Pope continues to speak out on Ukraine war, sending letter to Zelensky

Pope Leo XIV has written to Volodymyr Zelensky to mark Ukraine’s Independence Day and to express his views on the more than three-year-long conflict that has been raging since Russia's invasion in February 2022.

“With a heart wounded by the violence that ravages your land, I address you on this day of your national feast,” the Pope wrote to the Ukrainian president on 24 August. The pontiff assured Zelensky of prayers for “those wounded in body, for those bereaved by the death of a loved one, and for those deprived of their homes”.

Entrusting the Ukrainian nation to the Blessed Virgin Mary, Queen of Peace, the Pope urged that “the clamour of arms may fall silent and give way to dialogue”.

President Zelensky responded on social media, stating on X: “I am sincerely grateful to His Holiness for his thoughtful words, prayer, and attention to the people of Ukraine amid devastating war.”

The Ukrainian president stressed Ukraine’s hope for “long-awaited peace” and praised Pope Leo’s “moral leadership and apostolic support”.

The papal letter to the Ukranian president came just two days after Pope Leo called on Catholics to observe 22 August as a day of prayer and fasting for peace and justice, especially in relation to the conflicts in Ukraine and the Holy Land.

“While our world continues to be wounded by wars in the Holy Land, in Ukraine and in many other regions of the world, I ask all the faithful to spend Aug. 22 in fasting and prayer, asking the Lord to grant us peace and justice and to dry the tears of those who suffer because of the armed conflicts underway," the Pope said.

“May Mary, queen of peace, intercede so that people would find the path of peace.”

The Pope also appealed to pilgrims from Poland to include in their intentions “a peace that is disarmed and disarming – for the whole world, especially for Ukraine and the Middle East”.

The Pope's letter and his preceding comments on Ukraine have coincided with fresh diplomatic manoeuvres around the war.

On 15 August, US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin met at Anchorage in Alaska. White House officials described the summit as a “listening exercise” and a potential precursor to the possibility of negotiations between Russian and Ukraine to end the war and establish peace.

The reality on the ground in Ukraine, however, contrasts starkly with the political red carpet and accompanying handshakes.

Reporting from Dobropillia, just five miles from Russian frontline positions in the Donetsk region, the BBC’s Quentin Sommerville has described the scale of destruction and human tragedy occurring.

The region of eastern Ukraine is described as having “long been in Moscow's sights”, with Vladimir Putin reportedly saying he'll end the current war in return for full control of the region.

“The cost of holding on is measured in Ukrainian soldiers' lives and body parts,” Sommerville says, adding that enemy drone activity never ceases and hence the Ukranian injured and dead can only be safely retrieved at night.

“Russian casualties are far higher, perhaps three times as much or more, but it has a greater capacity to absorb losses than Ukraine,” Sommerville somberly notes.

Photo: Pope Leo XIV addresses the crowd from the window of the Apostolic Palace overlooking St. Peter's square during the Angelus prayer, Vatican, 24 August 2025. (Photo by TIZIANA FABI/AFP via Getty Images.)

‍