Putin replaced the ambassador to the Vatican against the background of the Pope’s efforts in Ukraine

Russian diplomat and former Minister of Culture Alexander Avdeev was removed from the post of ambassador to the Vatican. Ivan Soltanovsky, the former Russian Permanent Representative to the Council of Europe, was appointed instead to this position by decree of President Vladimir Putin.

Russia’s ambassador to the Vatican was replaced amid Pope Francis’ announcement of a secret peacekeeping mission to end the war in Ukraine, RBC reports. The pontiff announced at the beginning of May that the Vatican was making such efforts. The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs noted at the time that they had not received any specific proposals or plans from the Vatican. At the same time, the head of the department of external church relations, Metropolitan Anthony, visited Italy “with the blessing of Patriarch Kirill” on a working visit, who met with Francis.

At the end of last week, the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky visited Italy. He held talks with the president and head of the Italian government, as well as a meeting with the Pope. The press service of the Vatican reported that the “humanitarian and political situation” in Ukraine was discussed. In particular, the topic of Ukrainian children taken to Russia was raised. In March of this year, the International Criminal Court in The Hague issued a warrant for the arrest of Putin, as well as the Commissioner for Children’s Rights in Russia, Maria Lvova-Belova. The Ministry of Internal Affairs suspects both of them of committing war crimes – namely, forcible deportations and displacement of the population, in particular children, from the occupied territories of Ukraine.

Ivan Soltanovsky, who took the post of ambassador to the Vatican, previously worked, among other things, in the positions of advisor to the post-mission of Russia to the OSCE and deputy director of the Department for Security and Disarmament of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. From 2003 to 2009, he was the deputy ambassador of Russia to NATO in Brussels. In October 2015, Soltanovsky was appointed permanent representative of Russia to the Council of Europe. In November 2022, he was removed from this position. Russia was expelled from the Council of Europe in March last year after its large-scale invasion of Ukraine.