Archbishop Gallagher, the Vatican's foreign minister, met Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Moscow on 2026-08-25 in the first high-level Vatican-Russia engagement since the Ukraine war began, declaring "this war must end" and appealing for a resolution.
The Vatican's top diplomat visited Moscow on 25 August in a multi-day visit aimed at keeping communication channels open during the Russia-Ukraine conflict. The program included meetings with Moscow Patriarchate representatives and the local Catholic community.