Pope Leo XIV spoke by phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday, calling for a ceasefire in a Russian-occupied city in southern Ukraine while recovering in hospital from lung cancer surgery.
The Vatican said that Pope Leo "expressed his deep concern about the grave humanitarian situation in the city of Oleshky, in the Kherson region, and called for a ceasefire to allow the delivery of food and medical assistance, and the voluntary and safe evacuation of the civilian population".
