Lavrov is outraged by the Catholic platform for talks between Russia and Ukraine
23 May 15:10
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has rejected the idea of holding the next round of Russian-Ukrainian talks in the Vatican. This was reported by "Komersant Ukrainian" with reference to Russian media.
“Many people are fantasizing about when and where such a meeting [of the Russian and Ukrainian delegations] could take place. We don’t have any ideas on this right now. I just want to say that we should not waste our mental capacity on working out options that are not very realistic, because imagine the Vatican as a venue for negotiations. Well, it’s a bit inelegant, I would say. When the Orthodox countries will be discussing the elimination of the root causes on a Catholic platform,” he said.
Lavrov also added that “one of the root causes is allegedly a course to destroy the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.”
“I think the Vatican itself will also not be very comfortable in such a situation to receive delegations from two Orthodox countries,” Lavrov added.
According to him, Russia is in favor of holding negotiations, and their second round will be held, “this is already a positive development.”
Earlier, Pope Leo XIV declared his readiness to provide the Vatican as a platform for direct talks between Ukraine and Russia. He outlined peace in Ukraine as one of the main priorities of his pontificate.
Potential venues for negotiations
Three countries have been chosen as possible locations for negotiations:
- Turkey – a country that previously mediated the talks.
- The Vatican is a platform that Zelenskyy considers particularly favorable.
- Switzerland is a neutral country with experience in organizing international meetings.
The President of Ukraine emphasized that the Vatican could play a key role.
