Follow-Up: Pope Leo XIV Hopes Oleshky Truce Cooperation Will Spur Broader Peace Efforts
VATICAN CITY, November 1 — Pope Leo said on Sunday he hopedcooperation between Russia and Ukraine in implementing a ceasefire inthe Ukrainian town of Oleshky would pave the way for broader peaceefforts.
"A humanitarian operation has been carried out to help the civilianpopulation in the city of Oleshky. I hope that the cooperation betweenthe parties, which made this necessary humanitarian gesture possible,will strengthen their willingness to engage in dialogue and lead tofresh concrete initiatives for peace," Pope Leo said during his Sundayprayer.
Reuters reported that Ukraine and Russia said on October 23 they hadagreed to a ceasefire in Oleshky. The ceasefire was brokered by U.S.First Lady Melania Trump, with the additional involvement of Pope Leo,to allow aid deliveries and evacuations from the frontline town, whichhad been suffering acute food and medicine shortages.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said peace negotiatorswould meet for fresh talks in early November. Pope Leo spoke with bothRussian President Vladimir Putin and Zelenskiy on October 16. TheKremlin said Putin told Leo that he supported a Vatican initiative todeliver supplies to civilians in Oleshky and was ready to cooperate.
The Vatican's foreign minister, Archbishop Paul Gallagher, said onTuesday that although Leo had recently spoken with Putin andZelenskiy, he did not believe the Vatican had played a direct role inarranging the six-day ceasefire.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 教宗良十四世在梵蒂冈（资料图）。CC BY-SA 4.0，经Wikimedia Commons。 / Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican (file photo). CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
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