Pope Francis on Wednesday urged Russian President Vladimir Putin and all other parties to the conflict in Ukraine to make a "sincere effort" for peace.

After a 50-minute meeting between the pope and Putin at the Vatican, the Vatican issued a statement which said: "The holy father stressed that there has to be an important and sincere effort to achieve peace (in Ukraine). There was agreement on the importance of rebuilding an atmosphere of dialogue and that all the parties commit to applying the Minsk (ceasefire) accords."