Two high-profile Catholics, Pope Leo XIV and U.S. Vice President JD Vance, were meeting Monday ahead of a flurry of U.S.-led diplomatic efforts to make progress on a ceasefire in Russia's war in Ukraine .
Vance's motorcade was seen entering Vatican City just after 7:30 a.m. Vance, a Catholic convert, had led the U.S. delegation to the formal Mass opening the pontificate of the first American pope.
Joining Vance at the Vatican was Secretary of State Marco Rubio, also a Catholic, Vance spokesperson Luke Schroeder said.
The Vatican, which was largely sidelined during the first three years of Russia's war, has offered to host any peace talks while continuing humanitarian efforts to facilitate prisoner swaps and reunite Ukrainian children taken by Russia.
After greeting Leo briefly at the end of Sunday's Mass, Vance spent the rest of the day in separate meetings with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.