The Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, travelled to Switzerland alongside world government leaders to participate as an observer in the high-level summit on peace for Ukraine.
The summit took place just one day after Russian President Vladimir Putin laid out conditions for peace talks to begin. One of the demands was the complete withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from four different territories, that make up about 15 per cent of the overall territory of Ukraine.
In his statement on the summit, Cardinal Pietro Parolin reiterated territorial integrity, saying:
“[The Holy See] wishes to reaffirm the validity of the fundamental principle of respect for the sovereignty of each country and for the integrity of its territory.”
Parolin also emphasised concern for the non-compliance with the Geneva Conventions and renewed the Vatican’s commitment to facilitating the return of Ukrainian children from Russia.
The final statement of the summit called for dialogue between all parties, reaffirmed territorial integrity of Ukraine and said that any use of nuclear weapons in the ongoing war is inadmissible. It was signed by 80 of the 92 countries present.
Following the diplomatic nature of the Holy See, the Vatican delegation did not sign the final statement.