 Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky held talks at the Vatican on May 13 with Pope Francis, who said in late April that the Holy See was involved in a peace mission to end the war with Russia. Zelensky, who was visiting Rome for the first time since the war began, spoke with the Pope for 40 minutes and presented him with a bulletproof vest that had been used by a Ukrainian soldier and later painted with an image of the Madonna. A Vatican statement about the meeting was due later. Zelensky last met the Pope at the Vatican in 2020 and the two have had several phone conversations since the war began. At the start of the war, the Pope tried to take a balanced approach in hopes of being a mediator but later began forcefully condemning Russia's actions, comparing them to some of the worst crimes against Ukraine during the Soviet era.