The Vatican has offered to host peace talks between Russia and Ukraine again, DPA reported.
Secretary of State Pietro Parolin reiterated the offer made by Pope Leo XIV to organize meetings between the warring parties in a "neutral, safe place". At the same time, according to Italian news agency ANSA, the cardinal made it clear that the Vatican does not necessarily see itself as a mediator in the negotiations and that any mediation "must be requested by the parties".
"It doesn't matter where the negotiations between Russians and Ukrainians take place, the negotiations that we all hope will take place. What really matters is that they finally start, because stopping the war cannot be delayed," he said.
Since the start of Russia's war against Ukraine, which has been going on for more than three years, the Holy See, under the leadership of the late Pope Francis, has repeatedly tried to mediate, but without much success, DPA notes.
THE US'S WISH IS FOR THE VATICAN
In an interview with the conservative American television channel “Fox News“ US President Donald Trump's special envoy for Ukraine Keith Kellogg explained that Washington had a great desire for the talks to take place in the Vatican.
"We had a great desire for them to take place in the Vatican, but the Russians did not want to go there", Kellogg told “Fox News“.
The very idea of negotiations in the Vatican under the auspices of the Holy See was initiated and launched after the election of the American Pope Leo XIII and also enjoys the support of Trump.
RUSSIA PREFERS ISTANBUL
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov spoke by phone with his American counterpart Marco Rubio about the preparation of "concrete proposals" for the next round of direct talks with Kiev, Reuters reported, citing a statement from the Russian Foreign Ministry.
Lavrov also discussed with Rubio the implementation of the agreements between Russian and US presidents Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump, reached during their telephone conversation a week ago, according to a statement on the ministry's website.
Lavrov had earlier said that Russia proposed that the next talks be held on Monday, June 2, in Istanbul.
There has been no response from Ukraine to Moscow's proposal so far.
"A LITTLE INELEGANT" OPTION
At the end of last week, Lavrov said that the possible choice of the Vatican as the venue for further negotiations between Russia and Ukraine would be “a little inelegant“, since two Orthodox countries would have to discuss on Catholic soil issues related to, among other things, Orthodoxy in Ukraine, Lavrov said during a conference, quoted by TASS.
Regarding the idea of the Vatican becoming the venue for further Russian-Ukrainian negotiations, the minister suggested “not to waste mental effort on studying options that are not very realistic“.
“Imagine the Vatican as a venue for negotiations – that would be, I would say, a little inelegant, when Orthodox countries would have to discuss on Catholic soil issues related to eliminating the root causes“ of the conflict in Ukraine, Lavrov said, recalling that one of the root causes is Kiev's course towards the liquidation of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
The minister added that the Vatican itself would not “feel very comfortable“ if it had to host such negotiations.
MOTIFS OF A CHURCH-POLITICAL NATURE
Political consultant Sergei Markov told Bloomberg that for security reasons Putin would never go to Italy, a NATO member country, and added that the Russian president does not initially consider the Vatican to be neutral in the conflict.
According to Bloomberg, the issue is also complicated by the relations between the Roman Catholic Church and the Russian Orthodox Church, headed by Patriarch Kirill, who is a strong supporter of Putin and the war in Ukraine.
According to the agency's sources, the Russian Church is against participation in the Vatican's peace talks, as it considers it a historical rival in Ukraine, which has also failed to criticize the closure by Ukrainian authorities of churches loyal to Moscow.
Italy is also a member of the International Criminal Court, which in March 2023 issued an arrest warrant for Putin for alleged war crimes in Ukraine. If he were to arrive in Italy, it would be obliged to arrest him.
But even if all these obstacles are overcome, it is far from certain that such negotiations would be crowned with success, since reaching an agreement would most likely require a meeting involving Zelensky, Putin and Trump, and such a meeting has not yet been planned, Bloomberg notes.
VATICAN PEACE EFFORTS
The Vatican and Western officials initially remain skeptical that Moscow wants a ceasefire at all, notes “Euronews“.
Bishop Glib Lonchyna, a representative of the Greek Catholic (Uniate) Church in Ukraine, expressed doubt about Russia's intentions.
“Pope Leo XIV has no influence on Moscow. It does not recognize our Church at all,“ he told the television channel. “On the contrary, it wants to destroy it, just as they do in the occupied territories, where Greek Catholic churches are being destroyed.“
Greek Catholics, also called Uniates, are part of the Eastern Catholic Churches that follow the Byzantine rite but maintain spiritual communion with Rome. After World War II, Stalin's regime banned the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, transferring its properties to the Moscow Patriarchate - a move that many historians attribute to the latter's close ties to the Soviet regime, notes “Euronews“.
Pope Leo had hoped to make the Vatican's mediation in global conflicts one of the main elements of his pontificate. But now his initial optimism will have to give way to the harsh realities of geopolitics - something his predecessor Pope Francis called “a world war fought piecemeal“, notes “Euronews“.
RUSSIA DOES NOT TRUST THE AMERICAN POPE
Western governments have welcomed what they see as the Vatican's new rapprochement with Ukrainian interests. In his homily at his first Mass, Pope Leo said that “a long-suffering Ukraine awaits negotiations and a just and lasting peace“.
Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga told the Italian newspaper “Stampa“ that Vatican mediation would be difficult but still possible, noting that the pope “enjoys the trust of world leaders“. But the cardinal acknowledged that Russia remains reserved towards the Holy See.
Pasquale Ferrara, former director general for political affairs at the Italian Foreign Ministry and professor at Rome's LUISS University, noted that Moscow's distrust dates back to before Pope Leo.
“There was skepticism even towards Pope Francis, and it was rooted in the long-standing cold relations between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church,“ Ferrara pointed out.
Added to this is the division between Catholicism and Orthodoxy, dating back to the Great Schism of 1054. Many Orthodox Christians do not recognize the pope as a religious authority, notes „Euronews“.
THE VATICAN'S MEDIATION EFFORTS IN HISTORY
The Vatican has been trying to play a role in resolving international conflicts for many years. The Catholic organization „Order of Saint Egidio“, which is close to the Vatican, helped end the Algerian civil war in the 1990s.
Other popes have also tried - often unsuccessfully - to prevent global conflicts. Benedict XV called World War I a "senseless massacre," and Pope Pius XI called for resistance to the advance of fascism, Nazism, and Bolshevism on the eve of World War II, Euronews notes.
At the Yalta Conference, Stalin uttered his famous line belittling the Vatican: "How many divisions does the Pope have?" Decades later, Pope John Paul II played a key role in the fall of communism in Eastern Europe.