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"It cannot be postponed any longer"/ Pope Leo's call: Peace in Ukraine is urgently needed

2026-02-22 18:56:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

"It cannot be postponed any longer"/ Pope Leo's call: Peace in

As the four-year anniversary of the start of the war is marked, Pope Leo has called for peace in Ukraine today. The pope stressed that the end of the four-year conflict cannot be postponed any longer.

During his weekly address to pilgrims in St. Peter's Square after Sunday prayer, the Holy Father says that peace is an urgent necessity.

"So many victims, so many lives and families destroyed, so much devastation, so much indescribable suffering! Every war is truly a wound inflicted on the entire human family; it leaves behind death, destruction and a trail of pain that marks entire generations. Peace cannot be postponed. It is an urgent necessity that must find a home in our hearts and be translated into responsible decisions," the Pope said.

The head of the Roman Catholic Church invited believers to join in prayer for the people of Ukraine in difficulty and for all those suffering because of war around the world.

Since the beginning of the conflict, the Holy See has repeatedly called for a true, just and lasting peace. Pope Leo has repeatedly called the war "senseless" and has called for the release of prisoners and the return of children to their families.

In his efforts to promote peace, Pope Leo has met three times with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. They first met at the Vatican after the Pope's inauguration on May 18, and again at Villa Barberini in Castel Gandolfo on July 9. Their last meeting was in Castel Gandolfo on December 9.

Like his predecessor, Pope Francis, Leo has sent humanitarian aid from the Vatican to Ukraine and has asked Italian Cardinal Matteo Zuppi to continue the task given to him by Pope Francis to seek the return of Ukrainian children taken from their homeland to Russia by Russian forces and to work for a prisoner exchange. He has also offered the Vatican as a venue for negotiations between the two sides, an offer rejected by Russia.

Over the past four years, there have been several rounds of negotiations aimed at ending the war, including recent trilateral negotiations involving delegations from Russia, Ukraine and the United States, but so far they have been unstable. /CNA