The Vatican takes the gauntlet thrown by Russia. ANDhe Russian Presidential Spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, confirmed on Tuesday that Vladimir Putin is willing to talk to Pope Francis, United States and France “to discuss” the invasion of Ukraine. The Vatican, hours later, confirms that already weigh mediation of the Pontiff.
The Secretary of State of the Holy See, Cardinal Pietro Parolinhas ensured that “if there is a small opening, we will take advantage of it”although he has lowered expectations that mediation is imminent as he believes that “it is too soon” because the Vatican has to study how the Pope could intervene in practice.
“We are reflecting on how it could be done concretely, as we have said many times we are open and willing to do whatever is possible, but until now we do not know what those words mean, what foundation they have and what development they can have”, explained Pietro Parolin .
[El Papa dice que la guerra de Ucrania “fue provocada” y se originó para vender armas]
Macron, the Pope and Joe Biden
These statements come after Russia assured that they are willing to “discuss all this (the situation in Ukraine) with the Americans, with the French and with the Pontiff.”
Peskov made reference to the request made this Monday by the french President, Emmanuel Macron, to Pope Francis to call Vladimir Putin and the Patriarch of the Orthodox Church, Kirilas well as Joe Biden to promote a peace process in Ukraine.
“If this really goes in the direction of efforts to find possible solutions, can be valued positively“, assured this Tuesday the spokesman of the Russian Presidency.
[Rusia prepara su defensa en el este del río Dnipro y vías de escape al oeste ante una “potencial retirada”]
And Zelensky?
On whether Ukraine should sit down at that negotiating table that would have the intermediation of Pope Francis, Peskov has revealed that, for now, no one has proposed calling Volodymyr Zelenskyto which Russia asks him to clarify “the legal basis that prohibits any type of negotiation with the Russian side.”
“I repeat again: Russia is open to all contacts. But we must start from the basis that Ukraine has prohibited the continuation of negotiations,” Peskov added, referring to the recent Zalensky decree that put the decision of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine about the impossibility of holding negotiations with Vladimir Putin.
This same Tuesday, the Pope, in an international meeting of ‘Prayer for Peace’, lamented the “threat” posed by the use of atomic weapons and urged the international community to open “a serious dialogue” on non-proliferation and its dismantling.
“We are witnesses to what was feared and never wanted to be heard: that the use of atomic weapons, which guiltily since Hiroshima and Nagasaki have continued to produce and experiment with, now openly constitutes a threat,” the Pontiff assured.
