Pope’s envoy to meet presidential aide Ushakov

Pope’s emissary Cardinal Matteo Zuppi will meet with Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov. This was announced on June 28 by the press secretary of the President Dmitry Peskov. Zuppi’s visit will last two days. Earlier, neither the Russian Orthodox Church nor the Russian Foreign Ministry commented on the arrival of the cardinal to Vedomosti. On June 5, Zuppi visited Kyiv. Prior to that, he was engaged in mediation and humanitarian missions in Africa and the Balkans.

“On the instructions of Vladimir Putin, the assistant to the President [Юрий] Ushakov with him (Zuppi. – Vedomosti) will hold talks today and discuss the situation around the conflict in Ukraine and, of course, possible ways of a political and diplomatic settlement, ”Peskov confirmed. According to him, the Kremlin has stated “repeatedly that we highly appreciate the efforts and initiatives of the Vatican” to find a peaceful solution to the Ukrainian crisis.

“We welcome this desire of the pope to contribute to the cessation of the armed conflict in Ukraine,” Peskov stressed.

The day before, on June 27, a Vedomosti source in the Russian Orthodox Church said that it had nothing to do with the preparation of Zuppi’s visit. According to the interlocutor of Vedomosti, the visit itself is an initiative of the Vatican. As an informed diplomatic source told Vedomosti, the Foreign Ministry does not plan to meet with Archbishop Zuppi during his visit to Moscow.

A Vedomosti source in the Russian Orthodox Church also 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. 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 assisting in organizing a meeting between Zuppi, at least, with Patriarch Kirill, which may take place during a visit to Moscow. Sevastyanov added that the position of the Pope is a ceasefire.

Cardinal Zuppi already has experience in mediating armed conflicts. In 1990, he served as an intermediary in negotiations between the government of Mozambique and the rebels. In 1992, hostilities in Mozambique ceased. Zuppi continued to work in conflict zones with the Catholic NGO Community of Sant’Egidio. The organization provided humanitarian assistance and mediation services in several armed conflicts – in Algeria in 1995, in Guatemala in 1996, in Kosovo in 1996-1998, in Congo in 1999 and in Burundi in 1997-2000.

The reception at the level of the presidential administration of the papal envoy means that Russia is open to the initiative of the Vatican, says Ekaterina Shebalina, a researcher at the Institute of International Studies at MGIMO. The visit to Moscow itself means the desire of the Vatican to emphasize its neutrality, the expert continues. Obviously, after Zuppi’s trip to Kyiv, Pope Francis realized that Moscow is more capable of negotiating and agreeing at least on humanitarian issues as soon as possible with the Russian side, Shebalina continues. “This does not mean that Moscow will accept all the proposals of the Vatican, nevertheless, it openly shows the will to dialogue,” the expert concluded.