Russia peace talks in the Vatican marks a significant development for the first US-born pontiff, just as the Trump administration appears to be stepping back from leading negotiations.The Vatican has helped arbitrate delicate matters of diplomacy in the past.

Pope Leo XIV, a U.S. citizen who as a cardinal criticised the Trump administration's hard-line immigration policies, met at the Vatican on Monday with U.S. Vice President JD Vance, who converted to Roman Catholicism as an adult.

The contrast between President Donald Trump and Chicago-born Pope Leo XIV couldn’t be more stark, politically, personally or in their world views.

The Vatican said some 200,000 people attended the Mass at St. Peter’s Square, which marked the start of the pontificate of the first American to lead the Roman Catholic Church. Vice President JD Vance was among the dignitaries.

U.S.-born Pope Leo XIV, in his first address to world diplomats, said on Friday that the dignity of migrants had to be respected, possibly putting himself on a collision course with the administration of U.

President Donald Trump is hoping separate phone calls with Russian leader Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will make progress toward a ceasefire in the war in Ukraine.