The US Secretary of State says the Vatican would provide a place where both parties can be comfortable, rather than acting as a peace broker.
According to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the Vatican could potentially serve as a location for holding a ceasefire conference between Russia and Ukraine.
Speaking to a Roman reporter on May 17, Rubio said he would speak to Cardinal Matteo Zuppi about Pope Leo XIV’s offer to “every effort” to end the war in Ukraine.
Rubio said the Vatican would provide “a place where both parties can go comfortably,” rather than acting as a peace broker between themselves.
“So we talked about it all and obviously (we’re) always grateful for the willingness to play this constructive and positive role in the Vatican,” added Rubio.
Rubio also thanked Zuppi for the role of the Vatican in promoting prisoner exchange and humanitarian assistance during the war during a meeting at the US embassy in Rome.
The Vatican has a tradition of diplomatic neutrality, providing services and venues for a long time to promote peace negotiations. The late Pope Francis personally left Zuppi with the mandate to find a path to peace.
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Leo then appealed to both sides to strive for “real, fair and lasting peace” in his midday blessing on Sunday as Pope.
The newly elected Pope also took him to social media to urge international leaders to negotiate a quick, mere peace in the war.
Cardinal of Vatican Secretary of State, Pietro Parolin, repeated his offer to help the Vatican serve as the venue for in-person meetings, informing reporters that the Vatican will serve as the venue for in-person meetings between Kiev and Moscow.
“We always repeated, at all discretion, that we were available,” Parolin said.
“At least they’re aiming to talk. At least they’ll talk. We’ll see what happens. That’s a place offer,” he added.
Rubio’s comments come as the Trump administration struggles to get Russia to deeply engage in ceasefire talks.
Ukrainian leadership acquiesced Washington’s demand for an unconditional ceasefire. Russian authorities have refused to do so, sending counter offers and new requests instead, each time a breakthrough appears to be approaching.
That dynamic continued earlier this week when Russian President Vladimir Putin refused to attend the first in-person meeting between Ukrainian and Russian officials since Moscow began a full-scale invasion in 2022.
“Hopefully it will be a productive day, a ceasefire will happen, and this very violent war, a war that should never have happened,” Trump wrote in a post about his true social media platform.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
