Russian Overseas Minister Sergei Lavrov on Could 24 solid doubt on the Vatican as a potential venue for future peace talks with Ukraine, saying the Catholic seat wouldn’t be an acceptable platform for negotiations between two Orthodox Christian nations, Reuters reported.
Beforehand, Pope Leo XIV expressed his willingness to host the following spherical of peace talks within the Vatican. A number of of Ukraine's companions, together with the USA, have prompt that the Vatican might turn into a impartial platform for additional negotiations.
"Think about the Vatican as a venue for negotiations," Lavrov reportedly mentioned throughout a speech on the Diplomatic Academy in Moscow. “It will be a bit inelegant for Orthodox international locations to make use of a Catholic platform to debate points on the best way to take away the basis causes (of the struggle)."
Lavrov added that he believed "it will not be very snug for the Vatican itself to host delegations from two Orthodox international locations in these circumstances."
Ukrainian and Russian delegations met in Istanbul for peace talks on Could 16, failing to succeed in a ceasefire settlement. Through the assembly, Moscow demanded Kyiv withdraw from 4 Ukrainian areas it claims to have annexed, regardless of missing full management over them.
Ukrainian officers mentioned the Russian delegation appeared to lack actual authority and was unprepared to barter substantive phrases.
One final result of the talks was a large-scale prisoner trade, with 1,000 prisoners returning on all sides starting Could 23. Ukraine had additionally proposed a direct ceasefire and a possible face-to-face assembly between President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin — a suggestion Moscow declined.
Zelensky met with Pope Leo XIV on the Vatican on Could 18, following the pontiff’s inauguration mass. The Ukrainian chief described the pope as "an emblem of hope for peace" and mentioned the Holy See might play an essential function in ending the struggle. The 2 mentioned the return of kids forcibly deported by Russia and different humanitarian points.
Zelensky offered Pope Leo with an icon painted on artillery particles from the entrance traces — a present meant to characterize Ukrainian kids affected by the struggle.
Earlier than turning into pope, Leo XIV denounced Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine whereas serving as Bishop of Chiclayo in Peru. In his 2022 interview, he described it as "a real invasion, imperialist in nature, the place Russia seeks to overcome territory for causes of energy."
The Kyiv IndependentMartin Fornusek