Overview

• Pope Leo XIV has officially offered the Vatican as a neutral venue for Russia-Ukraine peace negotiations, confirmed by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin.
• The offer follows the collapse of Istanbul peace talks on May 16, where both Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelenskyy were absent, and no progress was made on a ceasefire agreement.
• Meloni has been coordinating with global leaders, including U.S. President Donald Trump and European officials, to prepare for a potential new round of negotiations.
• Ukrainian authorities have evacuated 52,000 civilians, approximately 60% of those at risk, from the heavily attacked Sumy region near the Russian border.
• Russia and Ukraine recently agreed to a prisoner exchange involving 1,000 detainees each, marking one of the few points of agreement during the failed Istanbul talks.