The article talks about the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Ukraine where civilians, including many children, have been taken by Russia in the ongoing war. It shows the Ukrainian president’s plea with the Vatican to formalize the Vatican’s informal job of negotiating for the freedom of civilians that was made with the former pope. Russia has abused the informality of this agreement to decline the return of the thousands of captured civilians. The article also shows the ICC’s intent to arrest Vladimir Putin, Russia’s president, on account of war crimes.
Considering Russia’s continued actions through this drawn out war with Ukraine, it is still not certain that even if the mediating role of the Vatican is formalized, that it will return the civilians any faster than they already have. The president of Ukraine is likely looking for any solution he can find to bring home the lost Ukrainian citizens and if the formalization were to go through, would attempt to hold Russia accountable to the Vatican’s authority.
The three major players are the Ukraine’s government, the Vatican and Russia’s government. The Ukrainian government will push to solidify the role of the Vatican in this war which will allow for the potential release of not only civilians but also the exchange of the prisoners of war between the two countries. The Vatican is likely to accept the role to oversee the recovery of Ukrainian children as it had already taken up this role, albeit informal.
This article connects to our class through nations within states and soft power. It connects to nations within states because Russia and Ukraine have an extremely large Christian demographic, likely giving it a more weighted opinion in the two countries. It connects to soft power through Ukraine’s use of tactful diplomacy to get Russia to release captured civilians.