Pope Leo urges concessions for peace as Ukraine war drags on

Pope Leo speaks during a meeting titled \"At the Roots of Europe for Peace and Unity\" at the Robert Schuman convention centre, in Metz, as part of Pope Leo's four-day apostolic journey to France, September 28, 2026. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier/Pool

METZ, France, Sept 28 - Pope Leo said on Monday that negotiators seeking to end war in Europe must be willing to sacrifice some positions to achieve peace, as efforts to end Russia's bloody war in Ukraine continue to fail.

The first US pope, speaking in Metz, hometown of Robert Schuman, a founding father of the European Union, lamented that "war has returned, even to Europe: a new senseless slaughter, claiming countless civilian lives every day".

Offering his clearest political vision yet for Europe, Leo also praised integration and multiculturalism at a time when the far right is gaining strength across the region.

Speaking in French, he urged Europeans to recall the founding values that underpin the EU, including the rule of law and the equality of all people without distinction of race, colour, class or profession.

Leo began his four-day visit on Friday with a warning that the United Nations and other multilateral bodies were in crisis and that international dialogue risked becoming a "charade".

On Monday in Metz, he turned his attention to the war in Ukraine - without mentioning it directly.

"We need ... to show courage in negotiation and to be willing to give up some positions for the greater good of peace," he urged, invoking a similar 1917 appeal from Pope Benedict XV amid the carnage of the First World War.

Leo also reiterated his opposition to rising European military spending, which grew last year by the highest amount since the end of the Cold War amid pressure from US President Donald Trump and Russian assertiveness.

"We must also guard against the illusion that rearmament is the answer," he said.

"Today we must ask whether we are truly making creative efforts to advance world peace, or whether we are simply seeking to 'stem the tide of war' and better prepare ourselves for wars that we assume are still to come."

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy last week met Trump in New York to discuss ways to end the war, which Russia began in 2022 with a full-scale invasion that has seized a fifth of Ukraine. Neither side has shown any willingness to concede land.

Leo also urged European leaders to integrate migrants arriving on the continent and offer them opportunities as if they were family members.

The pope, who frequently urges world leaders to treat migrants more humanely, repeated his call for "legal and safe pathways" for immigration, and international cooperation to fight human trafficking.

"To welcome a person means to integrate them as if they were part of one's own family, offering them the opportunity to develop their gifts, abilities and sensibilities," he said.

Leo has also sharply criticised Trump's hardline US anti-immigration policies.

He urged Europe to maintain the rule of law, and welcome multiculturalism.

"Europe has flourished and progressed when it has been able to draw on the best aspects of its past and reinvent them in new and creative ways through encounters with others," he said, also stressing Europe's Christian roots.

"Today, relations between individuals and states are becoming increasingly uncivilised. The value of keeping one's word is dismissed; instead, people boast of lies and deceit. Europe can help to break this cycle through the respect for others that it has learned to cultivate and preserve." REUTERS