Zelensky and Pope Leo are at the Inaugural Mass

The U.S.-Russia War on Ukraine after the Leo Refereed: stepped-up Diplomacy in the USA and the EU

Since his election, Leo has shown an interest in ending the war. He used his first Sunday address to call for peace inUkraine and the release of prisoners of war. He added that children should be returned to their families. Although he did not specify which children, many Ukrainian children have been taken to Russia against the wishes of their families since the war began.

The search for peace has arisen in recent weeks. Delegations from the two sides held their first direct talks in Turkey on Friday and later agreed on a prisoner exchange.

KYIV, Ukraine — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with top U.S. officials and European leaders in Rome on Sunday, part of stepped-up diplomatic efforts ahead of a high-stakes phone call Monday between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin on ending the war in Ukraine.

Friedrich Merz, Germany’s new chancellor, told reporters in Rome on Sunday that he had spoken with Mr. Rubio about Mr. Trump’s upcoming phone call with Mr. Putin. Speaking with reporters after the service had concluded, Mr. Merz said that he and the leaders of France and the United Kingdom were planning to try to speak to Mr. Trump before that phone call.

“My firm impression is that both the Europeans and the Americans are determined to work together, but now also in a goal-oriented manner, to ensure that this terrible war ends soon,” Merz told reporters in Rome.

Mr. Zelensky said he had met in Rome with Prime Minister Mark Carney of Canada and President Karin Keller-Sutter of Switzerland to discuss how to put pressure on Russia to end the war.

The intensified diplomacy came as Russia launched its largest drone barrage against Ukraine since the start of the full-scale invasion in 2022, after the first direct talks between Moscow and Kyiv in years failed to yield a ceasefire.

Zelenskyy offered to meet Putin in Turkey, but he turned them down after he himself proposed direct negotiations as a way to find a solution to the conflict in eastern Ukraine.

Drone attacks on Kyiv, Dnipropetrovsk and Donetsk: Ukrainian air force officials say it is the biggest since the Russian invasion

The air force of Ukraine said that Russia bombarded it with exploding drones and decoys. Of those, 89 were intercepts and 128 lost, which may have been electronically jammed. The attacks targeted the country’s Kyiv, Dnipropetrovsk and Donetsk regions.

The biggest drone attack since the beginning of the full-scale invasion came in the barrage, according to the head of the Ukrainian Air Force.

Kyiv regional Gov. Mykola Kalashnyk said a a 28-year-old woman was killed in a drone attack on the region and three other people, including a 4-year-old child, were wounded.