Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, the envoy of peace in Ukraine, has postponed his return to Vatican for at least a day. Official version: another meeting is required with the adviser to the President on international affairs Yuri Ushakov. But rumors from the Kremlin speak of a possible “impromptu” face-to-face conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“Today, the Cardinal and I met again to sum up the results of Your Eminence’s long-awaited visit to Moscow. Yesterday, the cardinal was received by Patriarch Kirill of the Russian Orthodox Church; another meeting was held with the commissioner for minors’ rights, Maria Lvova-Belova, to receive the Russian version of events. We came to the conclusion that these meetings were very useful,” Ushakov told the Interfax news agency.
During the meeting with Lvova-Belova, Ushakov added, a number of specific issues were discussed, including possible cooperation with the Holy See through the mediation of the Moscow Patriarchate.
“Today we agreed that Cardinal Zuppi will personally report to Pope Francis his impressions of the negotiations in Moscow, and if additional proposals come from the pontifex, we will be ready to discuss them at any time. We also decided to stay in touch, and the cardinal made it clear that he would continue his peacekeeping mission, as determined by Pope Francis,” the adviser to the Russian President said, stressing the fact that “no specific timeline has been set for further action.”
“We will also inform our leader about the results of the negotiations. Since the cardinal arrived in Moscow as a special representative of the Pope, we believe that he will return to Rome, meet the Pope in person, and tell him everything. After that, we will see what can be done, how to coordinate our joint efforts in the context of acute humanitarian issues”, Ushakov said.