Pope Francis called for a lasting peace in Ukraine on Wednesday, a day after Moscow admitted the possibility of Vatican mediation in the conflict unleashed after the Russian invasion of Ukrainian territory last February.
“Let us not forget to pray, let us continue to pray for the tormented Ukraine. May the Lord protect this people and guide us on the path of lasting peace,” he said during his regular Wednesday audience in St. Peter’s Square.
The spokesman for the Russian presidency (Kremlin), Dmitri Peskov, assured this Tuesday – during his daily press conference – that the country is “willing to discuss all this [a situação na Ucrânia] with the Americans, with the French and with the Pope”.
Peskov was reacting to the initiative of the French president, Emmanuel Macron, who, in a meeting held this Monday with the Pope, asked him to call the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, the patriarch of the Orthodox Church, Kirill, and the president of the United States. United, Joe Biden, to promote a peace process in Ukraine.
“If this is really going to mean an effort to find possible solutions, it can be positively evaluated,” Peskov acknowledged.
Regarding this possibility, the Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, said, in statements to the Italian press, that he considers it “something positive.”
“An opening of this type is obviously a generic opening that will then have to be done taking into account all aspects, but there is a willingness to speak as it seems to be a signal”, considered the “number two” of the Vatican.
Source: TSF
