ROME (AP) 鈥 Pope Leo XIV and U.S. Vice President JD Vance met at the Vatican on Monday ahead of a flurry of U.S.-led diplomatic efforts to make progress on a ceasefire in Russia鈥檚 war in Ukraine.
Vance, a Catholic convert, had led the U.S. delegation to the formal Mass of the first American pope. Joining him at the meeting on Monday was Secretary of State Marco Rubio, also a Catholic, Vance spokesperson Luke Schroeder said.
鈥淭here was an exchange of views on some current international issues, calling for respect for humanitarian law and international law in areas of conflict and for a negotiated solution between the parties involved,鈥 according to a Vatican statement after their meeting.
The Vatican listed Vance's delegation as the first of several private audiences Leo was having Monday with people who had come to Rome for his inaugural Mass, including other Christian leaders and a group of faithful from his old diocese in .
The Vatican, which was largely sidelined during the first three years of Russia鈥檚 invasion of Ukraine, has while continuing humanitarian efforts to facilitate prisoner swaps and reunite Ukrainian children taken by Russia.
After greeting Leo briefly at the end of Sunday鈥檚 Mass, Vance spent the rest of the day in separate meetings, including with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. He also met with European Union Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Italy鈥檚 Premier Giorgia Meloni, who said she hoped could be a 鈥渘ew beginning.鈥
In the evening, Meloni spoke by phone with U.S. President Donald Trump and several other European leaders ahead of Trump's with Russia's President Vladimir Putin on Monday, according to a statement from Meloni's office.
鈥楨very Effort鈥
Leo, the former Cardinal Robert Prevost, is a Chicago-born Augustinian missionary who spent the bulk of his ministry in Chiclayo, a commercial city of around 800,000 on Peru鈥檚 northern Pacific coast.
In the days since his May 8 election, Leo has vowed to help bring peace to Ukraine. He also has emphasized his continuity with Pope Francis, who made caring for migrants and the poor a priority of his pontificate.
Before his election, news articles on X that were critical of the Trump administration鈥檚 plans for
Vance was one of the to meet with Francis before The two had tangled over migration, with Francis the Trump administration's deportation plan and correcting Vance's theological justification for it.
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