Pope Leo Criticizes Trump’s Ukraine Plan Sidelining Europe

After meeting with Zelenskyy, Leo XIV delivered a pointed critique of Trump’s go-it-alone approach — warning that any plan excluding Europe is “unrealistic” and risks shattering the Western alliance.

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Outside of Castel Gandolfo, fresh from a private meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Pope Leo XIV didn’t mince words.

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, the first American pope insisted that Europe “must be part” of any deal to end the war in Ukraine, calling it “unrealistic” to seek peace without European participation.

“The war is in Europe,” Leo said, emphasizing that lasting security guarantees require Europe’s involvement — a truth that “unfortunately, not everyone understands.”

It was a thinly veiled rebuke of President Donald Trump’s latest Ukraine plan, which has conspicuously sidelined America’s traditional allies.

No serious observer could mistake the target of Leo’s critique. The pope’s remarks came in response to questions about Trump’s much-touted peace proposal to end Russia’s war.

That 28-point plan, crafted by Trump’s envoys, has alarmed U.S. partners abroad by cutting Europe out of negotiations and demanding sweeping concessions from Kyiv.

European leaders have grown uneasy over being “excluded from talks” built around a draft U.S.-Russia deal that would force Ukraine to cede territory to Moscow.

In castigating any approach that sidelines Europe, Pope Leo effectively threw his weight behind the transatlantic alliance and Ukraine’s sovereignty – and against a U.S. administration willing to barter those away.

“Seeking a peace agreement without including Europe in the talks is unrealistic.”

Leo XIV’s blunt warning underscores the high stakes. He noted that parts of Trump’s proposal would mark a huge change in what had been a true U.S.-Europe partnership for decades.

In fact, the pope said he was troubled by recent “remarks that are made about Europe, also in interviews,” which seem “trying to break apart what I think needs to be a very important alliance today and in the future.”

Those comments allude to President Trump’s latest broadsides against Europe: just hours before, Trump lambasted European leaders as “weak” and their nations as “decaying,” while hinting he might withdraw U.S. support for Ukraine’s defense.

Such rhetoric, practically rewriting the war as a U.S.-Russia deal with Europe on the sidelines, did not go unanswered by the pope.

Transatlantic Alliance at Stake

Leo’s critique reflects more than polite diplomacy — it’s a moral stand for unity against aggression. The American pope has consistently called for a “just and lasting peace” in Ukraine, one that doesn’t come at the expense of justice or allies.

Here are the details.