Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has met with Pope Leo XIV and thanked him for the Vatican’s efforts to help return children taken by Russia during the war.

Pope Leo XIV welcomed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the pope’s summer residence in Castel Gandolfo, about an hour south of Rome, to discuss peacemaking efforts in Ukraine, which has been ravaged by war since Russia’s invasion of the country in February 2022.

The Vatican did not say how long the meeting between Leo and Zelenskiy lasted. It released video showing Leo, the first U.S. pontiff, asking Zelenskiy "How are things going?" in E