Lavrov attempts to win the Vatican over to his side, but his ploy backfires

Rimini, from our correspondent. Since late yesterday morning, the Russian media machine has been reporting in minute detail – complete with videos, photos and posts on every social media platform available – on the eagerly awaited meeting between Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and the Holy See’s representative for relations with states, Monsignor Paul Richard Gallagher. It was the first time since 2021 that the senior Vatican official had set foot in Russia. Expectations were high, not least because a month and a half ago Gallagher had travelled to Ukraine, openly and publicly expressing his full support not only for Kyiv’s cause, but also for the ‘territorial integrity’ of the country under attack. 

Moscow, however, has gone to great lengths to mislead the guest, with Lavrov painting an idyllic picture of bilateral relations: relations remain “reliable, friendly and pragmatic”, despite “the fundamental changes in the geopolitical situation that have taken place during this period” – read: the invasion of a sovereign country – and this can only be emphasised “with satisfaction”. Gallagher, however, is a career diplomat, seasoned and incredibly unconcerned with the ceremonious and often musty conventions of curial diplomacy. He says what he thinks. And so he did in Lavrov’s presence: “Let me be clear: this war must end. For this reason, during our discussion, I reiterated the appeal by His Holiness Pope Leo XIV to bring an end to hostilities and to launch genuine negotiations with the support of the international community”. Genuine: because, as has been clear for years, it is the Kremlin that refuses to sit down at the negotiating table; indeed, through its Foreign Minister, it scornfully rejected the Vatican’s offer to host a meeting between the two warring parties. Volodymyr Zelenskyy emphasised this to Gallagher himself just a few weeks ago: ‘We are always available; we always have been. It is they who do not want to.’ And Gallagher made this clear, in the halls of Moscow no less. The Holy See calls for dialogue, provided it is constructive and sincere. The responsibilities for the ongoing tragedy are clear, at least on this side of the Tiber: there is only one invader, and his name is Vladimir Putin.

Whilst the meeting was taking place, the Rimini Meeting featured talks by the academic Yaryna Grusha (author of "Album blu", published by Bompiani) and the Latin Rite Bishop of Kharkiv-Zaporizhzhia, Monsignor Pavlo Honcharuk. “Thank you for not turning a blind eye. Every day we try to survive,” said the bishop before a large and attentive audience. “Last night, once again, my Kharkiv was bombed by missiles. Missiles, mind you, because the drones, on the other hand, arrive every day – or almost every day – for ten to twelve hours; there is a real danger, which is why people cannot venture out onto the streets. Of course, we go out anyway. Despite everything, we live on and we do not hate. Hatred kills those who hate, and if Ukrainians were to harbour hatred, they would have lost long ago. We feel pain and anger; we have the strength to fight, but we do not allow hatred to enter our hearts, because hatred poisons the mind, hatred drives love from the heart, and hatred drives peace away. Our strength lies precisely in love: love for our brothers and sisters, love for our parents and for our wives; and this love drives us to defend them. ‘We,’ said Monsignor Honcharuk, ‘are trying to defend our homeland because we do not want to be turned into a machine for killing other peoples.’ Look at Russia: how many nations has it conquered? Nations whose men are then sent to Ukraine to fight. If they conquer Ukraine, we will become those people sent to fight in Poland, Romania and Moldova. We do not want to fight; we want peace. We are defending ourselves; it is our right – our right to live, to love. A right they want to take away from us.” Yaryna Grusha explained the meaning of this when she said that “human life in Ukraine, unlike in Russia, counts for something. We put people at the centre.” It is by no means far-fetched to suggest that, from the Vatican’s perspective, the very fate of human beings – of the hundreds of thousands of men sent to their deaths – was one of the central points of the bilateral talks. It is less easy to imagine what Sergei Lavrov’s response might have been.