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Obama said he was 'incredibly moved' by a discussion with the pope on poverty. But the Vatican said the talk centered on church issues in the US, such as funding contraception through Obamacare.

President Obama met with Pope Francis for the first time on Thursday at the Vatican and appeared to enjoy the occasion. He and the pontiff exchanged a warm handshake, smiles, and nods when greeting each other outside the Papal Library in the Apostolic Palace.

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Wonderful meeting you, Mr. Obama said. Thank you, sir, thank you.

Accompanied by interpreters, the pair moved inside the library and sat on opposite sides of the popes desk, according to a White House pool report.

It is a great honor. Im a great admirer. Thank you so much for receiving me, said the US president.

Obama has good reason to enjoy a papal audience, of course. For one thing, he gets to associate with a world-renowned figure whose poll ratings are higher than his own.

Plus, parts of Pope Franciss agenda mesh nicely with Obamas political message for the 2014 US midterm elections. The pontiff has warned against the hubris of wealth and the dangers of ignoring the worlds poor and marginalized citizens. Obama and the Democrats, meanwhile, have been focusing on income inequality and the need to raise the US minimum wage.

But the course of US-Vatican relations has not always run smooth. For the White House, popes are not allies in a geopolitical sense, and they often talk about difficult issues, such as abortion or birth control.

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Obama, Pope Francis, and the (rocky) history of US-Vatican relations (+video)

Politics U.S.-Russia Relations

President Barack Obama on Wednesday called on Europe and the U.S. to stand firm against Russias annexation of Crimea, warning that a failure to push back against Russias illegal action would undermine a century of international progress.

Delivering remarks on the U.S.-European relationship at the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels on the third day of his international trip, Obama framed the Ukraine crisis as a conflict between self-determination and might. But he rejected the notion that recent events are the beginning of another global struggle.

This is not another Cold War that were entering into, he said in his 36-minute address. After all, unlike the Soviet Union, Russia leads no bloc of nations, no global ideology. The United States and NATO do not seek any conflict with Russia. In fact, for more than 60 years we have come together in NATO not to claim other lands but to keep nations free.

Russias leadership is challenging truths that only a few weeks ago seemed self-evident, that in the 21st century, the borders of Europe cannot be redrawn with force, that international law matters, that people and nations can make their own decisions about their future, he continued, emphasizing that there is no military solution to the situation in Crimea.

Obama acknowledged that both in Europe and the U.S., many may doubt the impact of Russias actions in Ukraine, but cautioned that casual indifference would send a dangerous message to the world.

To be honest, if we define our interests narrowly, if we applied a coldhearted calculus, we might decide to look the other way, Obama said. But that kind of casual indifference would ignore the lessons that are written in the cemeteries of this continent.

Over the course of his foreign trip, Obama has worked to marshal European allies to embrace the prospect of sanctioning the Russian economy if its government doesnt change course an action that could cost the global economy as well as Russia. Earlier on Wednesday, Obama and E.U. leaders met to discuss the potential for additional sanctions, with the E.U. pledging to move with the U.S. if Russia further escalates the situation in Ukraine.

Addressing Russias comparison of its move on Ukraine with U.S. actions in Iraq, Obama defended the U.S.s handling of that war, saying that even though he did not support it, it was completely different.

Even in Iraq, America sought to work within the international system, Obama said. We did not claim or annex Iraqs territory. We did not grab its resources for our own gain. Instead, we ended our war and left Iraq to its people in a fully sovereign Iraqi state that can make decisions about its own future.

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Obama on Russia: This Is Not Another Cold War

Obama, in Brussels, warns Russia of further isolation if it 'stays on course' in Ukraine, but precludes Western use of military force. His speech urges defense of the post-World War II 'architecture of peace.'

The United States and Europe must stand firm in rejecting Russias aggression against Ukraine and its annexation of Crimea not just because they challenge the principles a peaceful and prosperous Europe is built on, President Obama said Wednesday in Brussels, but also because they thwart "universal values" of freedom and self-determination that stir all humanity.

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The presidents speech the format Mr. Obama has favored for delivering big messages in foreign places came at the end of a day during which the American leader visited for the first time two pillars of trans-Atlantic relations: NATO headquarters and the executive offices of the European Union.

At both institutions Obama discussed with leaders the steps that Western powers must be ready to take including broad sanctions on Russian economic sectors such as the dominant energy industry and banking and finance if Russia moves to engage in further incursions into Ukraine, as he put it at EU headquarters.

Obama assured his audience of about 2,000 diplomats, officials, and university students at Brussels Palais des Beaux-Arts that the West has no intention of meeting Russias aggression with military force. But in a clear warning to Moscow, he pledged expanded Western measures to match continued Russian aggression.

If the Russian leadership stays on its current course, he said, this isolation will deepen.

The president sought in his speech to take the case for a firm stand against Russias actions beyond a mere geopolitical fight to a defense of the values and rules that a war-traumatized world forged from the ruins of World War II.

We meet here at a moment of testing for Europe and the United States, and for the international order that we have worked for generations to build, Obama said. After World War II, America joined with Europe to reject the dark forces of the past and to build a new architecture of peace, he said.

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Obama: Belligerent Russia poses 'testing' moment for Europe, US (+video)

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