MIRIAM NNOLI 
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday invited Pope Leo XIV to Ukraine during their first phone call, in which he also thanked the newly installed pontiff for urging peace in Ukraine.
Zelensky also noted that they discussed the thousands of Ukrainian children deported by Russia and that Kyiv was counting on the Vatican’s help in returning them home.
Kyiv however had recognised the Vatican’s efforts in mediating prisoner exchanges and the return of children taken to Russia from occupied parts of Ukraine.
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Zelensky also said that he had told Leo about a joint ceasefire offer by Ukraine and its allies and that the two had agreed to plan an in-person meeting shortly.
“I invited His Holiness to make an apostolic visit to Ukraine. Such a visit would bring real hope to all believers, to all our people.
New Telegraph recall that Leo had urged for peace in the war torn country from the balcony of St Peter’s Basilica to thousands gathered to hear his first prayer on Sunday, May 11.
He appealed for a “genuine, just and lasting peace in Ukraine, echoing his predecessor Pope Francis.
