our latest in Foreign Affairs

By speaking of abstract “suffering” and “goodwill”, and avoiding plain language on who invaded whom, the Holy See is effectively giving a papal benediction to the Kremlin's primary talking point: that this is a rather complicated quarrel, not a colonial land-grab. That does nothing to pressure Moscow towards peace, it only reduces its diplomatic isolation and blurs responsibility.

The dispatching of Marat Kambolov, a federal administrator with no prior connection to Tskhinvali Re

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