ROME (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Saturday that the Vatican could be a venue for Russia-Ukraine peace talks, taking up the Holy See’s longstanding offer after Pope Leo XIV vowed to personally make “every effort” to help end the war.
Speaking to reporters in Rome before meeting with Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, the Vatican point man on Ukraine, Rubio said that he would be discussing potential ways the Vatican could help, “the status of the talks, the updates after yesterday (Friday) and the path forward.”
Asked if the Vatican could be a peace broker, Rubio replied: “I wouldn’t call it broker, but it’s certainly — I think it’s a place that both sides would be comfortable going.”
“So we’ll talk about all of that and obviously always grateful to the Vatican for their willingness to play this constructive and positive role,” said Rubio, who also met Saturday with the Vatican secretary of state and foreign minister.
The Vatican has a tradition of diplomatic neutrality and had long offered its services, and venues, to try to help facilitate talks, but found itself sidelined during the all-out war, which began on Feb. 24, 2022.
Pope Francis, who occasionally angered both Kyiv and Moscow with his off-the-cuff comments, had entrusted Zuppi with a mandate to try to find paths of peace. But the mandate seemed to narrow to help facilitate the return of Ukrainian children taken by Russia, and the Holy See also was able to mediate some prisoner exchanges.
During their meeting at the U.S. Embassy in Rome, Rubio thanked Zuppi for the Vatican's humanitarian role, citing in particular prisoner swaps and the return of Ukrainian children. Rubio “emphasized the importance of continued collaboration under the new leadership of Pope Leo XIV,” U.S. State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said.
Leo, who was elected history’s first American pope on May 8, took up Francis’ call for peace in Ukraine in his first Sunday noon blessing as pope. He appealed for all sides to do whatever possible to reach “an authentic, just and lasting peace.”
Leo, who as a bishop in Peru had called Russia's war an “imperialist invasion," vowed this week personally to “make every effort so that this peace may prevail.”
In a speech to eastern rite Catholics, including the Greek Catholic Church of Ukraine, Leo begged warring sides to meet and negotiate.
“The Holy See is always ready to help bring enemies together, face to face, to talk to one another, so that peoples everywhere may once more find hope and recover the dignity they deserve, the dignity of peace,” he said.
The Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, repeated the Vatican’s offer to serve as a venue for direct talks, saying the failure of negotiations in Istanbul to reach a ceasefire this week was “tragic.”
“We had hoped it could start a process, slow but positive, toward a peaceful solution to the conflict,” Parolin said on the sidelines of a conference. “But instead we’re back to the beginning.”
Asked concretely what such an offer would entail, Parolin said that the Vatican could serve as a venue for a direct meeting between the two sides.
“One would aim to arrive at this, that at least they talk. We’ll see what happens. It’s an offer of a place,” he said.
“We have always said, repeated to the two sides that we are available to you, with all the discretion needed,” Parolin said.
The Vatican scored what was perhaps its greatest diplomatic achievement of the Francis pontificate when it facilitated the talks between the United States and Cuba in 2014 that resulted in the resumption of diplomatic relations.
The Holy See has also often hosted far less secret diplomatic initiatives, such as when it brought together the rival leaders of South Sudan in 2019. The encounter was made famous by the image of Francis bending down to kiss their feet to beg them to make peace.
Perhaps the Holy See's most critical diplomatic initiative came during the peak of the Cuban missile crisis when, in the fall of 1962, Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev ordered a secret deployment of nuclear missiles in Cuba that were soon detected by U.S. spy planes.
As the Kennedy administration considered its response, with the threat of nuclear war looming, Pope John XXIII pleaded for peace in a public radio address, in a speech to Vatican ambassadors and also wrote privately to Kennedy and Khruschev, appealing to their love of their people to stand down.
Many historians have credited John XXIII’s appeals with helping both sides step back from the brink of nuclear war.
Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, speaks to the media during a meeting with President of the Conference of Italian Bishops, Cardinal Matteo Zuppi at the U.S. Embassy to the Holy See in Rome, Saturday, May 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, left, and President of the Conference of Italian Bishops, Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, pose for a photo at the U.S. Embassy to the Holy See in Rome, Saturday, May 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, left, and President of the Conference of Italian Bishops, Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, meet at the U.S. Embassy to the Holy See in Rome, Saturday, May 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, left, and President of the Conference of Italian Bishops, Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, pose for a photo at the U.S. Embassy to the Holy See in Rome, Saturday, May 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
Opponents of President Donald Trump ’s administration are set to rally in hundreds of cities on Saturday during the military parade in Washington for the Army’s 250th anniversary — which coincides with Trump’s birthday — as protests grow in response to his immigration policies. The “No Kings” protests have been called, organizers say, to protect America's democracy as Trump vows to increase his deployment of military forces inside the United States.
A federal court hearing is scheduled for Thursday challenging Trump's use of the National Guard and Marines to support immigration raids in Los Angeles. California Gov. Gavin Newsom warns that the military intervention is the onset of a much broader effort by Trump to overturn norms at the heart of America's political system. Testifying Thursday before Congress, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul called it “an assault on our American values.”
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Democratic governors have been called before Congress to defend their states’ immigration policies. Several condemned Trump’s crackdown on immigrants and stressed that enforcing immigration law is not the role of local and state governments.
“Illinois follows the law. But let me be clear, we expect the federal government to follow the law too,” Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker said Thursday. “We will not participate in abuses of power. We will not violate court orders.”
Pritzker, Hochul and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz are testifying before the House Oversight committee, whose Republicans claim sanctuary policies make states unsafe. The governors said to the contrary — crime is down.
Hochul pointed to Los Angeles in her opening. “As we speak, an American city has been militarized over the objections of their governor,” she said. “This is a flagrant abuse of power and nothing short of an assault on our American values.”
Federal authorities say they’ve arrested a man on suspicion of distributing face shields to suspected rioters this week during Los Angeles protests against the White House’s immigration crackdown.
Bill Essayli, U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California, says the FBI took the man into custody Thursday morning. He could face a charge of conspiracy to commit civil disorders.
The man handed out the face shields to people Tuesday as a demonstration grew unruly in a downtown neighborhood, Essayli said in a post on X. Footage aired by FOX 11 and posted online by Essayli shows a man passing out face shields from a box in the back of a pickup truck.
Demonstrations have picked up across the U.S. with protests popping up in more than a dozen major cities and police containing the crowds. The Trump administration meanwhile said it is willing to send troops to other cities to assist with immigration enforcement and controlling disturbances, as Trump promised during last year’s campaign.
Some 2,000 Guard soldiers are in Los Angeles, soon to be joined by 2,000 more and about 700 Marines, said the operation’s commander, Maj. Gen. Scott Sherman. About 500 of the Guard troops have been trained to accompany agents on immigration operations, he said.
“We are expecting a ramp-up,” said Sherman. “I’m focused right here in LA, what’s going on right here. But you know, I think we’re, we’re very concerned.”
Newsom is suing to try to stop Trump’s military intervention against protests over immigration enforcement in Los Angeles, calling it an assault on democracy. Meanwhile, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott is putting the National Guard on standby in Texas cities where demonstrations are planned.
Their divergent approaches illustrate how both parties’ governors are trying to navigate national politics and executive power.
All 22 other Democratic governors signed a statement Sunday calling Trump’s deployments “an alarming abuse of power.”
In Republican-controlled states, governors have not said when or how they’re planning to deploy the military at protests.
▶ Read more on how US governors are reacting to Trump’s military deployment
California Gov. Newsom requested emergency intervention against the military deployment in the nation’s second largest city, warning that it’s part of a much broader effort to overturn political and cultural norms at the heart of the nation’s democracy.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass says the deployment of roughly 4,000 National Guard members and 700 Marines is unnecessary and meant to intimidate the large immigrant population.
Trump has described Los Angeles in dire terms that Bass and Newsom say are nowhere close to the truth. The Trump administration called Newsom’s lawsuit a “crass political stunt endangering American lives.”
The Democratic governor argues that sending troops to help support immigration raids would only promote civil unrest. Protests have already spread to other cities, and Trump has vowed to deploy more troops.
▶ Read more about California’s legal challenge of Trump’s military deployment
The Army expects as many as 200,000 people could attend and says putting on the celebration will cost an estimated $25 million to $45 million.
That’s OK with Carol Sue Quillen, 69, of Live Oak, Florida, who describes herself as a Trump supporter and said “I don’t necessarily think we appreciate our military as much as we should.”
But Matt Wheeler, 40, said the “extremely wasteful” military display “just sends a bad message.”
Wheeler, who works in nonprofit fundraising in Los Angeles and described himself as a lifelong Democrat, compared it to “old throwbacks to the USSR or things you see out of North Korea. .... that isn’t in line with what I thought our country really was.”
The poll also shows that approval of Trump’s handling of immigration stands at 46% overall.
▶ Read more about the AP-NORC Poll on Trump’s military parade
A new survey finds that U.S. adults are more likely to approve than disapprove of Trump’s decision to hold a military parade that officials have said will cost tens of millions of taxpayer dollars.
The survey found that about 4 in 10 U.S. adults “somewhat” or “strongly” approve of the parade, while about 3 in 10 “somewhat” or “strongly” disapprove.
About 6 in 10 Americans say Saturday’s parade is “not a good use” of government money — including the vast majority of people, 78%, who neither approve nor disapprove of the parade overall, according to the poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.
Trump announced Thursday morning that Greenwood will be performing at the parade on Saturday, which marks the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army and also happens to be the president’s 79th birthday.
Greenwood is the singer behind “God Bless the USA,” which has been Trump’s walk-on song at rallies for years.
“What a day it will be!!!” Trump wrote on his social media site.
The “No Kings” protests are set to take place to counter what organizers say are Trump’s plans to feed his ego this Saturday during a military parade on what is also Trump’s 79th birthday.
The “No Kings” theme was orchestrated by the 50501 Movement, a national movement made up of everyday Americans who stand for democracy and against what they call the authoritarian actions of the Trump administration. The name 50501 stands for 50 states, 50 protests, one movement.
Protests earlier this year have denounced Trump and billionaire adviser Elon Musk, the now former leader of Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency, a government organization designed to slash federal spending. Protesters have called for Trump to be “dethroned” as they compare his actions to that of a king and not a democratically elected president.
▶ Read more about the “No Kings” protests scheduled this weekend
U.S. Army soldiers hold a performance as Washington's Continental Army during the Army Birthday Twilight Tattoo event at Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall, Wednesday, June 11, 2025, in Fort Myer, Va. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)
U.S. Army soldiers hold a demonstration for the crowd during the Army Birthday Twilight Tattoo event at Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall, Wednesday, June 11, 2025, in Fort Myer, Va. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)
FILE - People take part in the "No Kings Day" protest on Presidents Day in Washington, in support of federal workers and against recent actions by President Donald Trump and Elon Musk, Monday, Feb. 17, 2025, by the Capitol in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana,File)
FILE - President Donald Trump talks with California Gov. Gavin Newsom after arriving on Air Force One at Los Angeles International Airport in Los Angeles, Jan. 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)
A U.S. Army soldier walks past a Bradley fighting vehicle staged in West Potomac Park ahead of an upcoming military parade commemorating the Army's 250th anniversary and coinciding with Donald Trump's 79th birthday, Wednesday, June 11, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
