U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Saturday that the Vatican could be a place for Russian-Ukrainian peace talks, canceling the long-term proposal of the Holy See after Pope Leo Xiv vowed to make “every effort” in person to help end the war.
Rubio, who spoke with reporters from Rome before meeting with Vatican Point Man in Ukraine, said he would discuss potential ways the Vatican could help, “the status of the talks, yesterday (Friday) and the way forward.”
When asked if the Vatican could be a peace agent, Rubio replied: “I won't call it a broker, but that's certainly – I think it's a place where both parties can be at ease.”
“So we will talk about all of this, obviously always thanks to the Vatican for its willingness to play this constructive and positive role,” he said at the U.S. Embassy in Rome.
The Vatican has a diplomatic neutral tradition that has long provided its services to help facilitate talks, but finds itself in a stunning war that began on February 24, 2022.
Pope Francis often angered both sides with his comments, and he commissioned Zuppi to authorize the search for a path to peace. However, the mission seems narrow to help promote the return of Ukrainian children taken away by Russia, and the Holy See was able to mediate exchanges among some prisoners.
Leo was elected the first American pope in history on May 8, and he was noon on the first Sunday in Ukraine as the pope’s first Sunday blessing. He called on all parties to do everything possible to achieve “real, just and lasting peace.”
Leo, a bishop of Peru, called Russia's war a “imperialist invasion” and vowed this week to “do his best to make this peace prevail.”
In a speech to Eastern Liturgical Catholics, including the Greek Catholic Church in Ukraine, Leo begged for a warring meeting and negotiation.
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He said: “The Holy See is ready to help the enemy, face to face, and talk to each other so that people everywhere may find hope again and restore the dignity they deserve, the dignity of peace they deserve.”
Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin repeated the Vatican proposal as a direct negotiation venue, saying the failure of a ceasefire in Istanbul this week was “tragic”.
“We hope it can start a process, slowly and positively, to a peaceful solution to conflict,” Parolin said in a bystander of a meeting. “But we're back to the beginning.”
Asked what such an offer would be, Parolin said the Vatican could serve as a venue for direct meetings between the two sides.
“The goal of a person is to at least they talk. We'll see what happens. This is a place's proposal,” he said.
“We have been saying that both parties that we can use are repeated in all discretions needed,” Parolin said.
The Vatican facilitated negotiations between the United States and Cuba in 2014, which led to Francis' greatest achievement with Francis, thus achieving the greatest diplomatic achievement.
The Holy See also often hosts secret diplomatic initiatives, such as when it convenes rival leaders in South Sudan in 2019. The encounter was famous for begging for peace by Francis bent over and kissing their feet.
Perhaps the most critical diplomatic initiative of the Holy See was at the height of the Cuban missile crisis, when in the fall of 1962, Soviet Prime Minister Nikita Khrushchev ordered the secret deployment of nuclear missiles in Cuba, which was soon detected by U.S. spy planes.
When the Kennedy administration believed that the threat of nuclear war was imminent, Pope John XXIII begged for peace in his speech to the Vatican ambassador in a public broadcast speech and wrote privately to Kennedy and Khruschev, attracting their love for the people.
Many historians believe John XXIII's appeal is to help both sides take a step back from the brink of nuclear war.
& Copy 2025 Canadian Press
