VATICAN, March 13. /TASS/. The relationship between Russia and the Vatican has strengthened in the past decade, since cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina became Pope, Russian Ambassador to the Holy See Alexander Avdeyev said in an interview with TASS.

"Our bilateral relations have acquired stability and a systemic nature," the diplomat said, speaking on the occasion of Pope Francis’ 10th anniversary as pontiff. "The heads of state themselves primarily played a major role here. [Russian President] Vladimir Putin has visited the Vatican and met with Pope Francis three times. Perhaps, none of the leaders of great powers has had so many `tete-a-tete’ meetings," Avdeyev said, highlighting their role in building confidence between the two leaders.

The Russian envoy also praised the level of political dialogue in the past decade between the heads of diplomatic missions of the Vatican and Russia as well as between leading experts on international security, the Middle East, the tragedy in Syria and other issues.

"Of course, Ukraine has been in the focus in the past years. And it is important that we have been discussing the topic frankly," he said.

According to Avdeyev, the Vatican has been providing "good and important services" as a mediator in the transfer of the lists of prisoners of war for consecutive exchanges between Russia and Ukraine.