VATICAN CITY (RNS) — Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s secretary of state and Pope Francis’ top lieutenant, said in an interview to Italian papers on Monday (Feb. 28) that the Holy See is willing to mediate between the two warring parties in the conflict in Ukraine.
“I am convinced there is always space for negotiation. It’s never too late!” said Parolin, citing Francis’ repeated calls to overcome conflict through dialogue and fraternity.
As Russian and Ukrainian representatives arrived for talks Monday at the Ukraine-Belarus border, Ukrainian representatives have voiced skepticism that the talks will put an end to the conflict.
But while “we must avoid every escalation, halt the conflict and negotiate,” Parolin said, he also looked to longer-term implications between East and West. The cardinal said that “returning to a new cold war” is a “disturbing scenario” and that only “a culture of fraternity” can build a stable and just world peace.
In an interview with Italian press published Monday, Parolin became the first high-ranking Vatican official to state that “Russia waged war against Ukraine.” In the weeks leading up to the war in Ukraine, Francis made numerous appeals for restraint by all parties involved in the conflict but avoided pointing the finger directly at Russia in his remarks.
The cardinal acknowledged the danger facing Europe and the eerie echoes of the world wars. A European intervention in the Ukrainian conflict “would be a catastrophe of massive proportions,” he said, but the eventuality “cannot be excluded.”
“I have seen some of the statements these days that recalled the incidents that preceded and provoked the Second World War,” Parolin said. “These references make one shudder.”
The Vatican has mobilized its diplomatic branch to promote peace in Ukraine. Parolin canceled his attendance at a conference for peace in the Mediterranean this weekend to remain in Rome. Francis spent the past few days meeting with Russian ambassadors to the Holy See and calling Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Parolin renewed the pope’s appeal to the Russian ambassador “to stop combat and return to negotiations.” He quoted Pope Pius XII, who, days before the start of World War II, made an impassioned appeal for peace, dialogue and respect for human rights.
The cardinal lamented the “mutual deafness” of Russia and Ukraine that have led to the war, saying, “When we stop communicating and listening sincerely, we look at the other with suspicion and you end up only exchanging mutual accusations.” At the same time, he added, nations must respect the self-determination of peoples and international law.
