Russian President Vladimir Putin thanked Pope Leo for offering to help settle the Ukraine conflict and told him Kyiv is intent on "escalating" the war, the Kremlin said on Wednesday. A Kremlin statement said they spoke by phone but did not give a date.

Vladimir Putin discussed the war in Ukraine with Pope Leo in a telephone call on Wednesday, with the Kremlin claiming the Russian president wanted peace through diplomacy. Putin, however, also claimed “the regime in Kyiv is betting on an escalation of the conflict and carrying out of acts of sabotage against civil infrastructure on Russian territory,