Pope sends envoy to Moscow to discuss settlement in Ukraine

Cardinal, Archbishop of Bologna and President of the Italian Episcopal Conference of Bologna Matteo Zuppi will visit Moscow on June 28-29 to look for ways to achieve peace in the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. On the upcoming visit to the Russian capital on the afternoon of June 27, the press service of the Vatican reported.

Zuppi has experience mediating peace in the aftermath of the 17-year civil war in Mozambique. “The main goal of the initiative is to encourage gestures of humanity that can help resolve the current tragic situation and find ways to achieve a just world [в российско-украинском конфликте]”, – follows from the message.

On June 5–6, Zuppi was in Kyiv. The purpose of the visit was also designated “listen to the Ukrainian authorities” on the topic “possible ways to achieve a just peace” and “maintain gestures of humanity.” The specific results of the mission of the papal envoy to Ukraine were not reported. Prior to this, in mid-May, Pope Francis met directly with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Vatican.

In the announcements of upcoming meetings and other events of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Archbishop Zuppi is not mentioned. Vedomosti sent inquiries to the press secretary of the President of Russia Dmitry Peskov, the Russian Foreign Ministry, the press service of the Pope, the representative office of the Vatican in Moscow, the foreign relations department and the legal department of the Russian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (ROC MP) on the fact of the visit of the papal envoy. As an informed diplomatic source told Vedomosti, the Foreign Ministry does not plan to meet with Archbishop Zuppi during his visit to Moscow. At the same time, in mid-June, the chairman of the department for external church relations of the Russian Orthodox Church MP, Metropolitan Anthony (Sevryuk) of Volokolamsk, said that a meeting of Cardinal Zuppi in the event of his visit to Moscow with Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus’ was not ruled out if their schedules coincided. Prior to this, Anthony met in the Vatican with Pope Francis. At the same time, on June 19, Deputy Foreign Minister of Russia Alexander Grushko did not confirm reports about a possible visit of Cardinal Zuppi to Russia.

A Vedomosti source in the Russian Orthodox Church said that the visit of Archbishop Zuppi to Moscow was the initiative of the chairman of the International Union of Old Believers, Leonid Sevastyanov, who is in contact with the Catholic Church. According to the interlocutor, the ROC has nothing to do with the preparation and conduct of the visit. Sevastyanov himself told Vedomosti that he does not represent the Vatican, but is a personal confidant of the Pope and, since May 2022, his “peace ambassador” in the Ukrainian conflict. Sevastyanov confirmed that he is helping to organize a meeting between Zuppi and at least Patriarch Kirill, which should take place as part of a visit to Moscow.

The mission of Zuppi, carried out, according to Sevastyanov, with his help, is to “convey the position of the pope to the conflicting parties, as well as their positions to each other.”

“The position of the Pope is and remains to help achieve an immediate cessation of hostilities,” says Sevastyanov. – But even without a truce and against the backdrop of hostilities, I would like to achieve an established exchange of negotiating positions. This does not prevent dialogue: it is possible to conduct a negotiation process, even if the parties continue to fire – this is the position of the pope.”

In March 2023, commenting on the Russian-Ukrainian conflict in an interview with the Swiss television channel RSI, Pope Francis described it as a clash of “all the great powers out there”. [на Украине]”, and the country itself as their “battlefield”. According to Francis, “on the second day of the conflict” in February 2022, he “came to the Russian embassy, ​​said he was ready to go to Moscow, and asked Putin to leave a window to meet with me.” He noted that then Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that “now is not the time.” “Putin knows that I am available,” the Pope summed up at the time.

The dispatch of an experienced diplomat like Zuppi testifies both to the importance of the issue for the Vatican and the complexity of the crisis, says Ekaterina Shibalina, a researcher at the Center for European Studies at IMI MGIMO, an expert on the Vatican. According to her, the Vaticans themselves note that the visit of the archbishop to Kyiv in early June was not aimed at “instant mediation”, but rather created a favorable environment for the future world. “The pope’s political line regarding the crisis, which began with bold attempts to solve everything single-handedly directly in 2022, has been replaced by an awareness of the complexity of the problem,” Shibalina believes. “Now the Vatican is unlikely to wait for a breakthrough, realizing its improbability.” But in view of the failures of other mediators, the pope will try to achieve at least small, but concrete victories, agreements on the humanitarian track, the expert explains. “So the Vatican would be able to confirm its authority as an arbitrator and smooth out the consequences of previous diplomatic oversights,” says Shibalina.

Judging by the comments that previously appeared in the press, Zuppi’s mission in Kyiv ended in nothing, Oleg Barabanov, program director of the Valdai International Discussion Club, believes. It is unlikely that anything serious should be expected following his visit to Russia, the expert adds. At the same time, the very fact that an increasing number of states are involved in the peace process and are engaged in “shuttle diplomacy” between Moscow and Kiev is important. The experience of negotiations during the conflict in Mozambique is a plus for Zuppi’s mission, but there are no universal recipes for resolving them, Barabanov concludes.

Elena Mukhametshina participated in the preparation of the article