Pope Leo Asked Putin for a Ceasefire in Oleshky. The Kremlin Answered Only on Supplies

Pope Leo XIV telephoned Vladimir Putin from his hospital bed on Friday and asked for a ceasefire in Oleshky, the Russian-held town in Ukraine’s Kherson region where residents have gone months without regular food deliveries. The Kremlin’s account of the same call says Putin agreed to cooperate on aid. Reuters noted that the text does not mention a ceasefire.

The Vatican said Leo asked for a halt in fighting, safe passage for food and medicine, and a voluntary evacuation of civilians. The Kremlin, according to Reuters, recorded support for the Vatican’s wish to organise supplies, and Putin wished the pope a speedy recovery. Ukraine’s foreign minister had said two weeks earlier that Russia was the party blocking the town.

This piece sets the two statements beside what Kyiv and Moscow said about Oleshky before the call, and lists what would show whether anything changes on the ground. Our earlier report covers Peskov’s statements around the EU summit.

The Holy See said Pope Leo asked for a ceasefire, food and medical deliveries and a voluntary evacuation. The Kremlin said only that cooperation on supplies had been agreed. Russia and Ukraine each say the other is obstructing aid, and no ceasefire has been announced.

The Holy See Press Office issued a statement on the call. As Ukrinform quoted it, Leo “expressed his deep concern about the grave humanitarian situation in the city of Oleshky, in the Kherson region, and called for a ceasefire to allow the delivery of food and medical assistance, and the voluntary and safe evacuation of the civilian population.” He also “reaffirmed the Holy See’s commitment to promoting dialogue and peace.”

Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s Secretary of State, told reporters the call was Leo’s initiative and that the pope wanted to “plead the cause of this besieged city,” Reuters reported. Reuters adds that the pope, 71, is recovering at Rome’s Gemelli hospital after lung cancer surgery, and that this was the second known call between the two men, after one on 4 June 2025.

The Kremlin readout, as Reuters quoted it, said that “it has been agreed to cooperate on this matter” and that the Vatican’s intention to help create the conditions for the safety of the town’s population and to organise vital supplies “has been supported.”

Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman, had said in late September that the situation in Oleshky was “indeed critical,” according to Euronews. He blamed the “Kyiv regime” for blocking deliveries. Reuters reports that Moscow acknowledges critical shortages of food and medicine and says its military is working to fix them.

The Vatican had already raised the town in Moscow. On 30 September, UNN reported, the Russian Foreign Ministry said the papal envoy Cardinal Matteo Zuppi had discussed living conditions in Oleshky during three days of talks with Yuri Ushakov, the Kremlin’s foreign policy aide, and other officials. The ministry’s statement said Ukraine was blocking attempts to supply the residents.

Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said in late September that “Russia is deliberately provoking a humanitarian catastrophe in the occupied part of the Kherson region.” On 4 October he wrote on X that “for months, Russia has been trying to isolate Ukrainians in Oleshky from the outside world,” and that Ukrainian drones had just delivered nearly 400 packages, almost four tonnes of food and medicine, Reuters reported.

Oleksandr Prokudin, head of the Kherson regional military administration, has said Russian troops shoot down food-carrying drones, confiscate or resell supplies that reach the ground, and detain residents found with parcels. Dmytro Lubinets, Ukraine’s human rights ombudsman, has said Ukraine’s proposal for a civilian evacuation, which has the support of the International Committee of the Red Cross, has not been accepted by Moscow. Michael O’Flaherty, the Council of Europe’s Commissioner for Human Rights, said of the remaining residents: “Reports indicate that they face a high risk of death.”

The first marker is physical: a convoy or a Vatican-coordinated delivery reaching Oleshky, and a statement from Prokudin or Sybiha on whether it arrived. The second is Moscow’s answer to the Red Cross-backed evacuation proposal that Lubinets described. The third is whether the Kremlin or the Holy See says anything further about the ceasefire. Until then, the Kremlin has agreed to cooperate on supplies, and Reuters reports that residents describe a deepening food crisis.