This photo taken and handout on September 18, 2023 by The Vatican Media shows Pope Francis welcoming Ivan Soltanovsky, Russian ambassador to the Holy See on the occasion of the presentation of his Credential Letters to the Pope in The Vatican.
This photo taken and handout on September 18, 2023 by The Vatican Media shows Pope Francis welcoming Ivan Soltanovsky, Russian ambassador to the Holy See on the occasion of the presentation of his Credential Letters to the Pope in The Vatican. AFP

Pope Francis met on Monday with the new Russian ambassador to the Vatican, who said they discussed the pontiff's efforts to bring peace to Ukraine.

Ivan Soltanovsky, a long-time diplomat, presented his formal accreditation to the 86-year-old head of the Catholic Church, according to a Vatican statement.

They "discussed, in particular, the mission of the papal special envoy to Ukraine, Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, aimed at solving a number of humanitarian issues", Soltanovsky told Russia's official TASS news agency.

"They agreed to continue an honest and open dialogue with the Holy See, traditionally built on the basis of mutual respect," the diplomat added.

Earlier this year the pope appointed Zuppi, the head of Italy's Bishops' Conference, to lead a peace mission to try to stop the war in Ukraine. Zuppi has since visited Moscow, Kyiv and Beijing.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergio Lavrov suggested last week the cardinal would return to Moscow.

During a roundtable event, he said, according to TASS: "The efforts with the Vatican, whose envoy is going to come again, are continuing.

"We are ready to meet with everyone, we are ready to talk to everyone."

Pope Francis regularly calls for peace in Ukraine, although in the early months after Russia invaded its neighbour in February 2022 he drew criticism for not naming Moscow as the aggressor.

He paid a rare personal visit to the Russian embassy to the Holy See the day after the invasion to "express his concern for the war", the Vatican said at the time.