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Moscow welcomes possible involvement of Vatican, Washington in talks on Ukraine crisis

"Russia is open to any communication, but we must proceed from the stance that Ukraine has codified the non-resumption of the talks," Dmitry Peskov noted

MOSCOW, October 25. /TASS/. Moscow welcomes French President Emmanuel Macron's proposal to engage Pope Francis and the U.S. leadership in talks on Ukraine in terms of finding possible solutions, Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday.

"If it is all in the vein of finding a possible solution, we can evaluate it [Macron’s proposal] as a positive one," Peskov said.

He said, however, that Macron’s proposal did not imply the idea of somehow influencing the stance of Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky on the talks with Russia.

"There is nothing in this statement that anyone should call President Zelensky and deal with the legal framework, which currently prohibits any type of negotiations with the Russian side," Peskov continued.

The Le Point magazine reported earlier in the day that Macron has asked Pope Francis to call Russian President Vladimir Putin to help resolve the Ukrainian crisis. Pope Francis received Macron on Monday, October 24. It was the third meeting between the French president and the pontiff.

According to the magazine, during a 55-minute audience with the pope on Monday, Macron asked the pontiff to call President Putin, Patriarch of Moscow and All-Russia Kirill as well as US President Joe Biden.

Peskov added that Russia "is ready to discuss all of these issues with the Americans, the French or the pontiff."

"Russia is open to any communication, but we must proceed from the stance that Ukraine has codified the non-resumption of the talks," Peskov noted.

In late October, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky enacted a decision by Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council on the impossibility of talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

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