The Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, pointed out that the Holy See insists on the need for a negotiated solution between Russia and Ukraine, and recalled the right to self-defense on which the latter country is basing itself to resist the Russian invasion.
“I think there is a right to defense, to self-defense. That is basically the principle that Ukraine relies on to resist Russia. The international community wants to prevent an escalation, and that is why no one has intervened personally so far, but I see that there are many who are sending weapons. This is terrible to think about, it could cause an escalation that you can’t control. But the principle of self-defense remains,” said Cardinal Parolin.
On the subject of Ukraine, Cardinal Parolin emphasized that “the Holy See has not ceased to draw attention to the situation in Donbas and in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions”.
In addition, the Vatican Secretary of State said that “the Holy See has always insisted on the respect and application of the Minsk agreements, which seemed to be the best way to avoid what happened later. And we have always insisted that there be the necessary flexibility on the part of Russia and Ukraine to implement the Minsk agreements correctly and effectively.” He added that “this topic also came up” in his conversation with President Vladimir Putin on his 2017 trip.
Along these lines, Cardinal Parolin affirmed that the Holy See has had a “continuous dialogue with President Putin” in which “we have always made him see the need to find a peaceful and negotiated solution to the crisis.”
“For this reason, and even before the war broke out, we were ready to mediate, especially after Ukrainian President Volodymir Zelensky indicated the Vatican as a possible neutral ground on which the Russia-Ukraine summit could be held,” he said.
Finally, the Vatican Secretary of State said that the initiative for the recent video call between Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill came from the Moscow Patriarchate. He added that the Russian Patriarchate “communicated it schematically and officially, while the Holy See made public what the Pope had said to Kirill.”