Vatican City, September 18, 2023 (KAP) Diplomat Ivan Soltanovsky is the new Russian ambassador to the Holy See. Pope Francis welcomed the 68-year-old to the Vatican on Monday for his inaugural visit , announced the Vatican press office. Soltynovsky was previously, among other things, Russia’s Deputy Permanent Representative to NATO and Permanent Representative to the Council of Europe.
The new ambassador succeeds Alexander Avdeev. Last November, he criticized the Pope for statements about the war in Ukraine. In an interview with the Jesuits’ America Magazine, Francis condemned the “cruelty” of Russian troops in Ukraine. Adveev, born in 1946, then expressed his indignation to the Holy See.