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Russia ready to receive papal envoy for Ukraine again — ambassador to Vatican

"If there is a need for the papal envoy to visit Russia once again for the good of the cause, such a possibility will certainly be carefully considered," Ivan Soltanovsky noted

MOSCOW, February 14. /TASS/. Moscow is ready to once again receive Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, Pope Francis' envoy for Ukraine, Russian Ambassador to the Vatican Ivan Soltanovsky said in an interview with TASS.

"Routine work with Cardinal Matteo Zuppi is underway along the lines defined following meetings with Russian Presidential Aide Yury Ushakov and Children’s Rights Commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova, which took place last June. If there is a need for the papal envoy to visit Russia once again for the good of the cause, such a possibility will certainly be carefully considered. The doors are open in Moscow and the Vatican knows it," the diplomat pointed out.

Cardinal Zuppi made a visit to Moscow in late June 2023. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko said then that Moscow maintained normal working relations with the Vatican.

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