🇷🇺🇻🇦 On August 25, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and the Holy See's Secretary for Relations with States and International Organizations, Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher held a meeting in Moscow.

During the constructive talks, the Sides held an in-depth discussion on the state of bilateral dialogue and a number of pressing international issues.

👉 Sergey Lavrov's opening remarks

Given the Vatican’s involvement in addressing a number of humanitarian issues in the context of the Ukrainian conflict, particular attention was paid to the situation around Ukraine. Sergey Lavrov pointed to the destructive nature of Western policies and stressed the fundamental importance of eliminating the root causes of the crisis.

🤝 The Sides positively assessed the Vatican’s peace-oriented approaches and Russia-Vatican cooperation on humanitarian matters.

The Russian Side reaffirmed its readiness to continue close cooperation with the Holy See on initiatives aimed at reuniting families and facilitating POW exchanges.

The Sides also exchanged views on the protection of traditional spiritual and moral values and the situation of Christian communities in various regions of the world.

They noted the similarity of Russia’s and the Holy See’s approaches to a number of regional conflicts, as well as to the need for the international community to jointly seek responses to contemporary challenges, including those arising from the rapid development of new technologies and artificial intelligence.

👉 Sergey Lavrov's remarks at a joint press conference following talks