Pope Francis urges Putin to make 'sincere effort' for peace in Ukraine
Agreement reached on 'rebuilding atmosphere of dialogue' after Russian leader meets Italian premier and argues that sanctions should be lifted.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has used a trip to Italy to press his case against international sanctions and was urged by Pope Francis to make a "sincere effort" for peace in Ukraine.
After telling Italian premier Matteo Renzi on Wednesday that Western sanctions imposed over Russia's actions in Ukraine would cost Italian companies a billion euros, Putin spent 50 minutes chatting to the pope at the Vatican.
A Vatican statement said the pontiff had urged the Russian leader, and other parties to the Ukraine conflict, to make a "sincere effort" for peace.
"The holy father stressed that there has to be an important and sincere effort to achieve peace [in Ukraine]," the statement said. "There was agreement on the importance of rebuilding an atmosphere of dialogue and that all the parties commit to applying the Minsk [ceasefire] accords."
Speaking two days after the G7 threatened tougher measures against Moscow, Putin told a press conference in Milan that many contracts signed by Italian firms had been stalled by the sanctions and may have to be torn up.
"Italian companies missed out on a billion euros," he said. "They could have given their enterprises work, created jobs. That didn't happen because of the sanctions."
Putin also said he was convinced sanctions would not be sustained indefinitely.