ROME — Russia’s foreign minister has eliminated the Vatican as a possible venue for peace negotiations following comments by Pope Francis that offended Moscow.
In response to a suggestion by Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin Monday that Russian-Ukrainian negotiations could take place in the Vatican, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that Russia cannot consider the Vatican as a place for possible negotiations between representatives of Moscow and Kyiv.
Zakharova made reference to the pontiff’s recent remarks on the “cruelty” of Chechen and Buryat soldiers in Ukraine, adding, “As far as I can remember, no one uttered any words of apology from the Vatican.”
Pope Francis had recently told Jesuit-run America magazine that the “cruelest” soldiers in Ukraine are not ethnic Russians but outsiders like “the Chechens” and “the Buryati” who fight on the Russian side, a comment that provoked a sharp rebuke from Russia.
Russia’s state-owned news agency TASS accused the pope of “race-baiting” and Deputy Speaker of Russia’s Federation Council Konstantin Kosachev said the pontiff’s statement draws “a dividing line between peoples and religions.”
“It is totally unacceptable in today’s world and I can only regret that Pope Francis made an enormous mistake in this case, which can only have a negative impact on the conflict and will in no way help the parties find common ground and a way out of the crisis through reconciliation,” Kosachev said.
Pope Francis later claimed that his remarks about the cruelty of Buryat and Chechen soldiers were misinterpreted and were only a “figure of speech,” according to Leonid Sevastyanov, chairman of the World Union of Old Believers, citing a letter he had received from the pope.
The Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, proposed Monday that the Vatican could be a suitable place to organize a meeting of the parties for a dialogue on Ukraine.
“We are ready, the Vatican could be the right place for this,” Parolin said. “We were looking for opportunities to offer a meeting between the parties and at the same time maintain a balance. Our desire is to offer a place for dialogue without preconditions.”
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