The Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, has assessed positively that Russia is willing to talk with the United States and the Pope to forge a peaceful way out of the war in Ukraine and considers that «if there is a small opening,» they will take advantage of it.
This is what Parolin said about the possibility that Francis and U.S. President Joe Biden could intervene in the negotiations to find a way out, a diplomatic solution also suggested by French President Emmanuel Macron.
However, Parolin has assured that «it is too early» and has clarified that they still have to think about how such mediation could develop in practice.
«We are reflecting on how it could be done concretely, as we have said many times we are open and ready to do whatever is possible, but so far we do not know what those words mean, what foundation they have and what development they can have,» Parolin has pointed out, as reported by Italian media.
The Vatican’s response comes after Russian Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said they are ready to «discuss all this (the situation in Ukraine) with the Americans, with the French and with the Pontiff.»
On Tuesday, at the international ‘Prayer for Peace’ meeting organized by the Community of Sant’Egidio at the Colosseum in Rome, the Pope lamented the «threat» posed by the use of atomic weapons and urged the international community to open «a serious dialogue» on non-proliferation and on their dismantlement.
«We are witnesses to what was feared and never wanted to be heard: that the use of atomic weapons, which culpably since Hiroshima and Nagasaki have continued to be produced and tested, now openly constitutes a threat,» the pontiff said at the time.
