Reuters learns another reason why Russia refuses talks with Ukraine in Vatican

Russia has refused to consider the Holy See as a venue for peace talks with Ukraine, using EU sanctions as one of its pretexts.

Source: high-ranking sources for Reuters within the Russian leadership, as reported by European Pravda

Details: According to one of Reuters’ sources, "The Vatican definitely is not seen in Russia as a serious force capable of resolving such a complex conflict".

Among the reasons given by three sources was the already widespread thesis promoted by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov that a Catholic country supposedly cannot be a mediator in a war between "two Orthodox countries".

They also complained that the Vatican is surrounded by Italy, which is a NATO member that supports Ukraine and has repeatedly imposed sanctions on Russia.

Another argument cited by Reuters’ sources was that many Russians would allegedly find it very difficult to get to the Vatican from Moscow due to personal EU sanctions.

(To illustrate the validity of this argument, it is worth noting that sanctions did not prevent Lavrov from participating in OSCE ministerial meetings in 2023 and 2024.)

Background: 

• Last week, Bloomberg learned from Russian sources that the Kremlin currently has no plans for Vladimir Putin to travel to the Vatican or anywhere else for talks.
• Pope Leo XIV himself proposed the Vatican as a place for talks between Ukraine and Russia – an idea supported by Kyiv, European countries and the US.

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