The reception of the head of the Vatican’s foreign ministry in Moscow indicates that the Kremlin is forced to seek channels of diplomatic communication with the West.

This is what religious studies scholar Lera Furman writes in her article for Novaya Gazeta Europe.

According to her, although Russia’s “Orthodox-patriotic” public predictably reacted with hostility to the visit of the high-ranking Vatican guest, the Kremlin gave Gallagher a “relatively warm reception.”

“Whatever the Z-public may grumble about, the relatively warm reception given to the head of the Pope’s foreign ministry in Moscow indicates overall that the Kremlin is suffocating in its geopolitical isolation, and that ‘realities on the ground’ are forcing it to seek or restore channels of sustained diplomatic communication with the West. From the standpoint of reputational risks, the Vatican channel looks like the most acceptable one for Moscow,” the author writes.

Lera Furman argues that Russia “has begun to develop this channel,” and that this says a great deal.

“And the fact that they have begun to develop it, despite the new pope’s unequivocally pro-Ukrainian positions, is a signal that the Kremlin is nevertheless beginning to consider the inevitability of a compromise in the war with Ukraine,” the author concludes.

As LF reported, a senior Vatican representative called for an end to the war in Ukraine following a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Moscow on Tuesday. This was the first face-to-face talks between representatives of the Vatican and Russia in five years.

Gallagher, the Vatican’s second-highest-ranking diplomatic representative, last visited Moscow for talks with Lavrov in 2021, before the start of the full-scale war.

Pope Leo has repeatedly called for an end to the war. In an August 9 address, he expressed regret over the “growing number of civilian casualties, particularly children.”