- Sabalenka relishes 'much-needed' tennis rivalry with Swiatek
- Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson set for six weeks out
- Taylor Swift got police escort to London gigs after Austria terror plot
- Cook tips Root to break Tendulkar's all-time runs record
- British skull auction sparks Indian demand for return
- Joe Root: England's elegant Test record-breaker
- Braving war: Lebanon's 'badass' airline defies odds
- Klopp to return as head of Red Bull football operations
- Hezbollah strikes Israel, says it foiled Israeli incursions
- Jurgen Klopp to return as head of Red Bull football operations
- Sinner to face Medvedev in Shanghai Masters quarter-finals
- US weighs Google breakup in landmark trial
- Record-breaking Root guides England to 232-2 in reply to Pakistan's 556
- Japan PM dissolves parliament for 'honeymoon' snap election
- Chinese stocks tumble on stimulus upset, Asia tracks Wall St higher
- 7-Eleven owner confirms new takeover offer from Couche-Tard
- Goodbye Tito? Tomb at risk as Serbs argue over Yugoslav legacy
- Restoration experts piece together silent Sherlock Holmes mystery
- Sinner avoids Shanghai deja vu with assured Shelton win
- Pyongyang to 'permanently' shut border with South Korea
- Trumpet star Marsalis says jazz creates 'balance' in divided world
- No children left on Greece's famed but emptying island
- Nepali becomes youngest to climb world's 8,000m peaks
- Climate change made deadly Hurricane Helene more intense: study
- A US climate scientist sees hurricane Helene's devastation firsthand
- Padres edge Dodgers, Mets on the brink
- Can carbon credits help close coal plants?
- With EU funding, Tunisian farmer revives parched village
- Sega ninja game 'Shinobi' gets movie treatment
- Boeing suspends negotiations with striking workers
- 7-Eleven owner's shares spike on report of new buyout offer
- Your 'local everything': what 7-Eleven buyout battle means for Japan
- Three million UK children living below poverty line: study
- China's Jia brings film spanning love, change over decades to Busan
- Paying out disaster relief before climate catastrophe strikes
- Chinese shares drop on stimulus upset, Asia tracks Wall St higher
- SE Asian summit seeks progress on Myanmar civil war
- How climate funds helped Peru's women beekeepers stay afloat
- Nobel Peace Prize to be awarded as wars rage
- Pacific island nations swamped by global drug trade
- AI-aided research, new materials eyed for Nobel Chemistry Prize
- Mozambique elects new president in tense vote
- The US economy is solid: Why are voters gloomy?
- Balkan summit to rally support for struggling Ukraine
- New stadium gives Real Madrid a headache
- Alonso, Manaea shine as 'Miracle Mets' blitz Phillies
- Harris, Trump trade blows in US election media blitz
- Harry's Bar in Paris drinks to US straw-poll centenary
- Osama bin Laden's son Omar banned from returning to France
- Afghan man arrested for plotting US election day attack
With Ukraine, Vatican balances diplomacy and inter-faith ties
The Vatican has long played global mediator but has struggled to make its mark in the Ukraine conflict, walking a tightrope between its desire for peace and ties with the Russian Orthodox Church.
With a self-proclaimed "willingness" to help in the negotiations, Pope Francis' unprecedented visit to the Russian embassy and high-level phone calls, the Holy See has spared no effort since Russia invaded Ukraine last month to achieve a ceasefire.
But despite past successes, notably in the historic rapprochement between Cuba and the United States in 2014, its attempts to play peacemaker in the Ukraine conflict have yet to yield results.
This is because, say analysts, the Argentine pontiff has been forced to perform a diplomatic balancing act.
He has been drawn into the conflict as the spiritual guide of five to six million Catholics in Ukraine.
But the Vatican has also spent years fostering closer ties with the Russian Orthodox Church led by Patriarch Kirill -- a close ally of President Vladimir Putin and a key pillar of his ruling apparatus.
This led in 2016 to the historic meeting between Pope Francis and Kirill, the first encounter by the heads of the two churches since Christianity split into Western and Eastern branches in the 11th century.
In December, the pontiff even raised the possibility of going to Moscow to meet with this "brother" Kirill in the near future.
Francis "is inevitably considered as both judge and party" in the conflict, noted Bernard Lecomte, a specialist in the Vatican and eastern Europe.
The result has been a series of public statements by the pope condemning the war in increasingly emotive terms -- without ever mentioning Russia as the aggressor.
- Turning point -
The pope's approach has sparked criticism, which only grew following Kirill's outspoken support of the Russian intervention, calling Moscow's opponents in Ukraine "evil forces".
Afterwards, Francis stepped up his rhetoric, condemning the "unacceptable armed aggression" and the "barbarity" of the killing of innocents.
With that, "the impartial role, which is an advantage for a mediator, is reduced", noted Stein Tonnesson, a member of the Peace Research Institute Oslo, who said he was "pessimistic" about the chances of the Vatican arbitrating peace talks over Ukraine.
"There is a real turning point -- it pushes Vatican diplomacy out of its realpolitik attitude," added Constance Colonna-Cesari, author of the book "Holy Diplomacy: The Secret Power of the Vatican".
For his part, Kirill is also facing protests by sections of his clergy in Ukraine, who have called for a severing of ties with the patriarchy.
- Spiritual level -
Alongside its diplomatic efforts, the Vatican has played its traditional humanitarian role, sending cardinals to the region and activating refugee networks.
And the pope has emphasised the importance of religious dialogue.
On Wednesday, during a video call with Kirill, Francis said the Church "must not use the language of politics, but the language of Jesus", saying both men should "unite in the effort to help peace".
For Vatican watchers, this was an attempt by Francis to take the discussion back to a subject that drives him -- closer relations between different faiths.
The pontiff "has an interest in confining himself to the spiritual, to use values, symbols... without talking politics, which would discredit him immediately," said Lecomte.
On Friday, the pope invited bishops from around the world to take part in a ceremony on March 25 for Russia and Ukraine in St Peter's Basilica.
"As long as we remain on a spiritual level, there will be a sliver of possibility of dialogue. We know from history that these channels, at a certain moment, can be very precious," said Lecomte.
D.Sawyer--AMWN