54% of Ukrainians trust Pope Leo XIV as a possible mediator in the upcoming peace talks on the Russian-Ukrainian war.
This is evidenced by the results of a nationwide sociological survey conducted by the SOCIS Center in June 2025, reports UP Life.
A total of 71% of respondents supported the idea of holding the next round of negotiations with Russia in the Vatican. Meanwhile, 12.2% opposed this idea, and 16.7% were unable to provide an answer.
Regarding Pope Leo XIV as a potential mediator in these negotiations, 11.1% of Ukrainians expressed complete confidence in him. Additionally, 42.9% indicated they were more likely to trust him than to distrust him.
Conversely, 14% of respondents said they were more likely to distrust the pontiff, while 8.5% expressed that they had absolutely no trust in him. A total of 23.6% of respondents chose not to answer this question.
Ukrainians' attitude towards the Pope and the Vatican
During a recent study, sociologists surveyed Ukrainians about their awareness of the Vatican's activities as the center of world Catholicism in connection with Ukraine during the ongoing war. The results showed that the majority of respondents — 56.1% — were unaware of such activities. Only 39.9% indicated that they had knowledge of the Vatican's involvement.
Regarding Pope Francis's stance on the war in Ukraine, 42.8% of Ukrainians felt he maintained a neutral position. In contrast, 18% believed that he supported Ukraine, while a similar percentage, 18.4%, was convinced that he supported Russia.
More than a third of respondents (36.4%) are convinced that the Vatican's position on Ukraine will remain unchanged after the election of a new Pope. Nearly as many citizens (approximately 35%) believe that Pope Leo XIV will help improve the situation for Ukraine, while 3.6% expect the situation to worsen.
A significant majority, 78.6%, expressed a positive attitude towards the possibility of Pope Leo XIV visiting Ukraine. Only 7.2% were negative in their response, and 14.2% were uncertain.
The survey was conducted from June 6 to June 11, 2025, using face-to-face interviews with 2,000 respondents aged 18 and older, representing various regions of Ukraine, excluding temporarily occupied areas and regions experiencing active hostilities.