After the prospect of a peaceful dialogue in Turkey began to fade, Pope Leo XIV expressed his readiness to provide the Vatican as a neutral platform for direct negotiations between Ukraine and Russia. This was reported by UNN with reference to the Italian newspaper La Stampa.
Details
From the moment it became clear that Vladimir Putin was not planning to participate in the negotiations in Turkey, the Vatican's Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, commented on the situation, calling the results of the Turkish meetings "tragic."
It's all tragic, because we hoped that a process would begin, perhaps slow, but with a peaceful resolution of the conflict. But instead, we are back to square one
"Now we will see what to do, but the situation is very difficult, dramatic," he added.
The Cardinal stressed that the Vatican is ready to become a platform for new attempts at dialogue.
"The Pope intends, perhaps, to provide the Vatican, the Holy See, for a direct meeting between the two sides," the publication quotes the Cardinal as saying.
Recall
Zelensky decided to send a Ukrainian delegation to Istanbul to meet with the Russian delegation in order to try to achieve the first steps towards de-escalation.
Zelensky himself will not be present at the talks in Istanbul after Russian dictator Vladimir Putin refused to travel to Turkey.
On May 16, the Turkish, American and Ukrainian delegations met in Stumbul with the participation of Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidana Fidan within the framework of the Russian-Ukrainian peace negotiations.
Later that day, a trilateral meeting between Turkey, Russia and Ukraine was planned. According to media reports, the Russian side demanded that the talks be held without the United States and Turkey.