Russia, Vatican and the search for peace: Where are the conversations?

Russia, Vatican and the search for peace: Where are the conversations?

In a current development in the Ukraine secretion, Russia rejected the Vatican as a possible place of negotiation for peace talks. This reports Sächsische.de . The US special envoy for Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, explained that Geneva was considered as a potential alternative place. This decision comes at a time when the diplomatic efforts to end the conflict are urgently needed. In parallel to these developments, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan has signaled that Turkey is ready to organize another round of peace talks.

Turkey already organized an encounter between the conflict parties in mid -May, which led to a major exchange of prisoner, but did not bring any substantial progress in the negotiations. Kellogg emphasized that Wladimir Putin has not yet submitted the required memorandum, which should regulate the basics for a possible peace agreement. In the meantime, Ukraine reports to take four border villages in the Sumy region by Russian troops. Putin has ordered Russian armed forces to set up a buffer zone on the border to protect itself against possible Ukrainian attacks, while Russia strengthens its drone attacks on Ukraine.

peace placement attempts by Switzerland

Switzerland also tries to take a broker role in the Ukraine conflict. Federal President Karin Keller-Sutter offered the "good service" of Switzerland to the Ukrainian President Wolodymyr Selenskyj, as is to be read at Weltwoche.ch . These diplomatic efforts were confirmed in several personal conversations, including in Rome and Tirana. Selenskyj mentioned Switzerland as a possible place of negotiations alongside Turkey and the Vatican.

Gabriel Lüchinger, a top diplomat and head of the international security department in the broadcasting party, will travel to Moscow to advance the discussions on conflict resolution. While Lüchinger officially takes part in a security conference in Moscow, his unofficial tasks are targeted exploratory talks. Despite these diplomatic efforts, there is a certain reluctance in Bern, since it is officially not mentioned by a new peace conference, but only about preparatory discussions.

criticism and escalation of the situation

The diplomatic initiatives are in the shade of a tense military situation. The Kremlin has classified Switzerland as a "unfriendly state", which further complicated the situation, especially since Switzerland recently took over another EU sanction package. This means that the possibilities for peaceful resolutions are restricted. The historical context of the conflict shows that Russia has been warning against Ukraine since 2014, starting with the annexation of the Crimea and the conflict in Donbas.

The negotiations on the conflict have often been dependent on the course of the war and the political context. Vladimir Putin escalated the conflict in 2022 with partial mobilization and threats to nuclear weapons. Selenskyj has been calling for a summit with Putin since his 2019 election, but canceled direct discussions in 2022, which underlines the complexity of the negotiation process. In this tense situation, it remains uncertain whether and when a permanent peace will be possible.