Pope Francis’ envoy to negotiate peace in Ukraine arrived in Moscow this Tuesday in hopes of helping to find “a solution to the current tragic situation” weeks after a visit to Kiev, the Vatican said.
The mission of Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, a veteran of the Catholic Church’s peace initiatives, comes as the Kremlin continues to grapple with the fallout from the weekend’s failed armed uprising led by Wagner mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin, who is now in exile. went to Belarus after charges against him were dropped.
The details of Zuppi’s program in Moscow are not yet clear. When the cardinal visited Kiev earlier this month, he met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
In Moscow, he is likely to meet the Moscow Patriarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church, whose leader strongly supported the invasion of Ukraine that began on February 24 last year.
The Vatican said in a statement that Zuppi hopes to find “pathways of peace” in his contacts.
In Moscow, Zuppi was accompanied by an official from the Vatican Secretariat of State and the car he was traveling in was seen Tuesday evening at the Holy See’s representation in the Russian capital, according to footage broadcast by Italy’s state television RAI, which reported that the pope’s envoy is expected to meet with religious and possibly political figures in the coming days, with it being uncertain whether he will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Zuppi has to stay in Moscow until Thursday, the feast of Saints Peter and Paul – an important date for Catholic and Orthodox Christians.
“The main aim of the initiative is to encourage human gestures that can contribute to finding a solution to the current tragic situation and finding ways to just peace”says the Vatican in a statement.
Zuppi, 67, is the Archbishop of Bologna, president of the Italian Episcopal Conference and a veteran of the Catholic Church’s peace-mediation initiatives through its long-standing association with the Sant’Egidio community, which has already produced important results in resolutions of conflicts, namely in the 1992 accords that led to the end of the civil war in Mozambique, as happened in Guatemala in the same decade, along with a ceasefire in Burundi, in 2000.
The Vatican has a tradition of silent diplomacy and not taking sides in conflict, hoping to help achieve peaceful outcomes.
However, Ukraine reiterated this Tuesday that it does not need any external mediation in the war caused by the Russian invasion, in response to Cardinal Matteo Zuppi’s trip to Moscow and as Kiev forces launch a counter-offensive targeting Russian positions in the country. . .
“Our position is clear and we express it very openly: we do not need mediation, and that [acontece] because we had bad experiences. We don’t trust Russia”said Andryi Yermak, head of the Ukrainian president’s cabinet, quoted by the ANSA bureau.
However, Yermak added that Zuppi’s mediation results on children deported to Russia and prisoner exchange would be welcome.
Source: DN
