Pope Francis offered to host talks on the shared security of the U.S., Europe and Russia, according to Leonid Sevastianov, President of the World Union of Russian Old Believers. He told TASS: “Following [Russian Foreign Minister Sergey] Lavrov’s and [Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry] Peskov’s statements, the Pope offers Vatican City as a venue for talks between America, Europe, and Russia on shared security. Vatican is on Russia’s list of friendly countries and it is neutral. It is also friendly to Ukraine, America, and NATO. So, Vatican is an optimal venue for talks.”
Previously Sevastianov had reported on his personal call with Pope Francis, in which the Pope was ready to organize negotiations between Russian and Ukrainian Presidents, Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in Vatican City in an effort to settle the conflict. Vatican sources told TASS in September that the Holy See was taking all possible diplomatic efforts to promote the conflict settlement.
Worldwide Union of Old Believers are Eastern Orthodox Christians who maintain the liturgical and ritual practices of the Russian Orthodox Church, as they were before the reforms of Patriarch Nikon of Moscow between 1652 and 1666.
