Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican's Secretary of State, and Sergey Lavrov, Russia's Foriegn Minister, met during the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
The meeting took place on the eve of the referendum with which Russia intends to annex the occupied areas of Ukraine. It is feared this will increase the threat of using nuclear weapons, which Pope Francis condemned on Wednesday.
POPE FRANCIS
At a time where this tragic war leads to some people thinking about nuclear weapons—that is madness.
After the meeting between Cardinal Parolin and Foreign Minister Lavrov, the Russian government issued a statement. In it, they said the crisis between Russia and the West is 'the result of NATO's crusade to destroy Russia' and that the referendum in the occupied areas 'fully' complies with international law.
At the same time, Russia acknowledged that the dialogue between Russia and the Vatican is proving to be productive.
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