Pope Leo renews call for talks on ending the war in Ukraine

Pope Leo XIV on Monday reiterated his call for an end to the war in Ukraine.

Speaking to journalists on the flight to Rome at the end of his visit to France, Leo decried the growing military spend around the world.

The Catholic Church had an obligation to call for human dignity, the importance of life and "the possibility of perhaps spending more on health and education and less on weapons," he said.

"I believe the Church has a responsibility to promote those values, continually inviting leaders such as those of Russia and Ukraine, and other countries, to come, to sit down, to engage in dialogue, to seek ways of resolving problems without continuing these wars that no longer make sense."

A small number of people were becoming "immensely wealthy from an industry that promotes war," he said.

"Yet these billions upon billions of euros or dollars could be used to solve problems such as world hunger, housing, unemployment and so on."

Earlier in the day, Leo criticized Russia's ongoing war in Ukraine, describing it as "a senseless bloodbath."

Instead of focussing on rearmament European states should look for more "creative efforts" to promote world peace, the pope said during his address to an audience in Metz in eastern France.