SW News: Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican's Secretary of State, on Thursday met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in New York during the United Nations General Assembly.

This took place against the backdrop of the 77th annual UN General Assembly. Even though the Vatican has not officially responded to the meeting, Vatican news reported the meeting with a recent quote from Pope Francis saying, world leaders must be involved in dialogue, “because there is always the possibility that in dialogue we can change things.”

The Russian foreign ministry tweeted a video of Lavrov shaking hands and exchanging greetings with the Cardinal. “We thank you for the suggestion to have this meeting. We appreciate your efforts in this not-very-quiet time,” Lavrov is seen telling the cardinal in the video.

Following the meeting, the Russian Foreign Ministry released a statement in which they said “the minister made clear the reasons for the ongoing crisis in relations between Russia and the West, which is the result of NATO’s crusade to destroy Russia and split the world.”

In the statement, Lavrov stated, “the steps taken by Russia are designed to ensure independence and security, as well as to counter the United States’ hegemonic aspirations to control all global processes.”

Russian Foreign Ministry also made a hint about the upcoming referendums in the eastern Ukrainian regions of Donetsk and Lugansk, which Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier this year declared separate independent people’s republics, along with referendums in the southeastern Ukrainian cities of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson.

The meeting with the minister and the cardinal took place at a time when the world fears the use of nuclear weapons by Russia to destroy its rival Ukraine.
During his Wednesday General Audience, Pope Francis this week as well, stressed how people “are thinking about nuclear weapons,” calling those weapons “madness.”