Cardinal Parolin urges end to attacks in call with Russia’s foreign minister

Vatican City, Mar 8, 2022 / 08:00 am (CNA).

Cardinal Pietro Parolin urged an end to armed attacks in Ukraine during a phone call with Russia’s foreign minister on Tuesday, the Vatican confirmed.

The Vatican’s secretary of state “conveyed Pope Francis’ deep concern about the ongoing war in Ukraine” during a call with Sergei Lavrov on the morning of March 8.

Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said Parolin reaffirmed Pope Francis’ message from this past Sunday, in which he condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and expressed his solidarity with the country.

“Rivers of blood and tears are flowing in Ukraine,” Francis began his Angelus address on March 6. “It is not merely a military operation, but a war, which sows death, destruction, and misery.”

In his call with Lavrov, Parolin called “for an end to armed attacks, for the securing of humanitarian corridors for civilians and rescuers, and for the replacement of gun violence with negotiation,” the Vatican said.

The secretary of state also reaffirmed the Holy See’s willingness to do everything to put itself at the service of peace.

The Russian foreign ministry also confirmed the March 8 phone call between the minister and Parolin.

According to the ministry, during the conversation, Lavrov “outlined the principled Russian position regarding the causes and goals of the special military operation being carried out in Ukraine.”

The Russian ministry also said that both parties expressed hope that another round of negotiation talks between Russia and Ukraine’s leaders would take place soon to “seek agreement on the key problems underlying the crisis in order to resolve it and stop hostilities.”