Vatican diplomat says Holy See ready to host peace talks on Ukraine

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Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, a top Vatican diplomat, announces, on Sunday, Holy See and Pope's readiness to provide space for peace negotiations on Ukraine.

According to Mediaset, an Italian broadcaster,  "The Holy See and the Pope himself have always been open to this [hosting the talks] since the beginning of the conflict, but no definite response has been received yet. Nevertheless, the Holy See always remains at their disposal."

If the two sides approached Pope Francis with good intentions, the pontiff would welcome the request to provide a venue for negotiations, seeking peace and an end to hostilities, the Holy See stated.

Le Point, a French magazine, revealed in late October that Pope Francis had been urged by French President Emmanuel Macron to phone US President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss the war in Ukraine.

According to reports, Macron also mentioned the necessity of the United States participating in negotiations in order to move along the settlement process.

Per a source in the Vatican, the Holy See was prepared to take all necessary steps to bring the war in Ukraine to an end, adding that the Vatican would not back down if both parties requested mediation.

In response to the Vatican statement, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that Russia was open for dialogue with Ukraine, however, the latter "codified the non-continuation of negotiations."

Russian leadership, including Putin, still ready for talks on Ukraine

Russia will always be open to hearing solutions that would help to defuse the situation, according to Sergey Lavrov.

In an interview for the documentary 'A World on the Verge: Lessons of the Cuban Missile Crisis,' which was broadcast on October 30th via Channel One, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated that the Russian leadership, including President Vladimir Putin, is still prepared for discussions on Ukraine.

"The readiness of Russia, including its president, to negotiate [on Ukraine], it remains unchanged. We will always be ready to listen to what proposals our Western partners have to de-escalate tensions, so if we are approached with some realistic proposals based on the principles of equality and respect for each other's interests, aimed at finding compromises and balancing the interests of all countries, of course, we will react, as we've always had in the past," Lavrov said.

Read more: US, albeit covertly, wants Kiev to show interest in talks with Russia