VATICAN CITY -- Catholic and Orthodox leaders in Europe have appealed to Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill of Moscow, urging him to convince Russian President Vladimir Putin to put an end to the bloodshed in Ukraine.

WARSAW, Poland – Russia's minority Catholic Church has pledged to help build a civil society after the nation's March 18 election and called on President Vladimir Putin to "justify voters' confidence" after his victory.

OTTAWA - While the world’s attention is focused on Russia propping up the “atrocious Assad regime” in Syria, President Vladimir Putin continues to foment the crisis in the Ukraine through an exploitation of religious allegiances, said a Canadian historian.

WARSAW, Poland - A Ukrainian bishop said a Russian-backed separatist rebellion has plunged his country into its worst humanitarian crisis since the Second World War and warned that "millions of refugees" could soon head for Europe to escape starvation.

WARSAW, Poland - The head of the Ukrainian Catholic Church expressed concern that the world's richest countries are failing to honour a 1994 agreement that promised Ukraine security for giving up its Soviet-era nuclear weapons.

VATICAN CITY - Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet Pope Francis on June 10, with pressure on the pontiff to speak up about the Kremlin’s role in the Ukraine conflict.