Relationship dossier
Vatican City
Ukraine
Relationship assessment
High-level diplomacy and humanitarian engagement, alongside Ukrainian criticism of papal remarks on the war
Vatican City toward Ukraine
+35The Holy See has pursued humanitarian diplomacy concerning Ukraine, including Pope Francis’s appointment of Cardinal Matteo Zuppi in 2023 to undertake a peace and humanitarian mission. Pope Francis also met President Zelenskyy at the Vatican in May 2023.
Ukraine toward Vatican City
+25Ukraine has engaged the Holy See at senior level, including President Zelenskyy’s meeting with Pope Francis at the Vatican in May 2023. Ukrainian officials criticized the Pope’s 2024 remarks about the war and called the Vatican’s representative in Ukraine to discuss them.
Overall relationship
+30The relationship combines sustained diplomatic engagement with Holy See efforts focused on humanitarian issues and peace initiatives related to the war. Ukraine has participated in high-level dialogue while objecting to some papal statements about the conflict.
How to read these scores
Scores are rough judgments, not objective measurements or current verification. Directional scores describe government policy and conduct, not public opinion. The overall score is an independent estimate, never an average.
- −100
- Extreme sustained hostility
- −50
- Substantially adversarial
- 0
- Mixed or neutral, supported by knowledge
- +50
- Substantially cooperative
- +100
- Exceptionally close sustained partnership
“Not assessed” means there is no recorded score. Pair existence makes no claim about diplomatic recognition or established relations.
Relationship context
Overview
The Holy See, which conducts the foreign relations associated with Vatican City, has engaged Ukraine through high-level diplomacy and humanitarian efforts during Russia’s full-scale invasion. Ukraine has maintained high-level contact with the Holy See, including President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s 2023 meeting with Pope Francis. Relations have also faced friction over papal remarks about the war, which Ukrainian officials criticized.
Areas of tension
- Ukrainian officials criticized Pope Francis’s 2024 remarks about the war, including his reference to the need for courage to raise a white flag.
Key developments
The Holy See appointed Cardinal Matteo Zuppi to undertake a peace and humanitarian mission concerning Ukraine.
Pope Francis met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the Vatican.
Ukrainian officials criticized Pope Francis’s remarks about raising a white flag and discussed them with the Vatican’s representative in Ukraine.
Major uncertainties
- The scope and results of the Holy See’s humanitarian diplomatic efforts are unclear.
- The extent of continuing bilateral cooperation beyond high-level meetings is unclear.