Despite some early media chatter about the pope helping broker peace between Russia and Ukraine, the Vatican is unlikely to act as a mediator in the search for a peace deal, Pope Leo XIV said in excerpts from an interview published Sunday.

“I’d make a distinction in terms of the voice of the Holy See in advocating for peace and a role as mediator, which I think is very different and is not as realistic as the first one,” Leo said in the interview, parts of which were published in Crux, a Catholic news outlet.