Rome It is preparing to become the center of the world. Saturday the eternal city will welcome a enormous concentration of political and symbolic power: heads of state, of government, crown teste and official representatives from each continent will reach the Vatican to pay homage to Pope Francisdisappeared on Monday. There will be at least 170 delegations expected for the pontiff’s funeral, witnesses of the global scope of his pontificate and the profound sign also left among the secular leaders. And the presence of many leaders in the capital could coincide with one carried out in international negotiations: Ukraine but not only.
Among the first to confirm their presence there is Donald Trumpwho will be in Rome together with his wife Melania on his first European journey from the beginning of the second term. Obviously the entire summit of theEuropean Union It will be present: Ursula von der Leyen, Roberta Metsola and Antonio Costa will represent the Commission, Parliament and the EU Council. It is not excluded that the circumstance can offer the opportunity for informal interviews with the US president, although European sources keep to clarify that the objective of the visit remains exclusively linked to the funeral ceremony. But the climate of tension between Washington and Brussels is such that it can push the leaders to confront each other to stretch the hearts in the wake of Giorgia Meloni’s visit to the White House.
But that’s not all. Also arriving in Rome Volodymyr Zelenskyaccompanied by his wife Olena. The Ukrainian president, who had complex relations with the Pontiff because of the Diplomatic Line of the Holy See on the Conflict with Russia, recalled with respect the Pope’s prayers for peace. Zelensky hopes for a bilateral meeting with Trump on the margins of the ceremony, in an attempt to relaunch international mediation. Vladimir Putinon the other hand, it will not be present: on the Russian president weighs a stop mandate of the International Criminal Court. In its place, the Russian Orthodox Church will be represented by Father Antonij of Volokolamsk, a prominent figure in relations with the Vatican.
According to what reported by Financial TimesPutin would have offered one respite along the lines of the current frontin an attempt to open a indirect dialogue with Washington. The theme will be at the center of a meeting in London convened as part of the so -called Coalition of the willing. Guest of the summit will be David Lammy, the new British Foreign Minister, who will welcome the delegations of the United States, Ukraine, France, Germany and the United Kingdom to Whitehall. For Washington, the special correspondent Keith Kellogg will participate, while Marco Rubio, initially indicated, will not be present. On the Cremlin front, Steve Witkoff, councilor near Trump, should go to Moscow in the next few days for new interviews.
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The Russian offer, presented as “Easter fire”, does not convince the European chancellers. The French minister Jean-Noël Barrot He called it “a marketing operation” aimed at appeasing American impatience. Meanwhile, in Ukraine, the attacks continue on Kharkiv, Zaporizhzia, Odessa, Sumy and Donetsk. Zelensky said he was ready for direct negotiations with Russia on condition that a cease-fire. “We need a real availability for dialogue,” he said. If Moscow’s proposal turned out to be sincere, it would mark a change of course compared to the total control of the four occupied Oblasts.
In short, the funeral of Bergoglio It could therefore be transformed into an unprecedented opportunity: while Piazza San Pietro is preparing to welcome the last farewell to the Pope who came from the end of the world, international diplomacy glimpses a possibility, perhaps unique, of close comparison between protagonists so far distant.
Franco Lodige, April 23, 2024
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The article The diplomacy of the funeral: what can happen to the farewell to Francesco comes from TheVermilion.com.