Vatican foreign minister, in Moscow, says Ukraine war must end

A senior ‌Vatican official urged an end to the Ukraine war after meeting in Moscow on Tuesday with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in the first in-person talks between Vatican ‌and Russian officials in five years. Archbishop Paul Gallagher, the Vatican's foreign minister, said every ‌day that the four-year Russia-Ukraine war continues, it "creates new victims ... and renders future reconciliation ever more difficult."

"It is therefore urgent and necessary to end and to look beyond the conflict," he ⁠said, ​speaking next to ⁠Lavrov at a joint press conference following their meeting. He also said that he and Lavrov had ⁠discussed avenues towards peace in Ukraine and that the two had agreed to cooperate on ​humanitarian matters such as caring for children impacted by the war.

Gallagher, the ⁠Vatican's second-highest diplomatic official, had last visited Moscow for talks with Lavrov in 2021, before the ⁠start ​of the war. Pope Leo has repeatedly called for an end to the conflict. In an August 9 appeal, he lamented the "ever-growing number of civilian ⁠victims, including children".

Gallagher said on Tuesday the Vatican would "continue to provide strong spiritual, diplomatic, ⁠and humanitarian support by ⁠contributing to and offering a space for dialogue" to end the war, which has raged for 4-1/2 years.