MOSCOW, December 1. /TASS/. Pope Francis’s recent racially-charged remarks about Russian service members of Chechen and Buryat ethnicity participating in Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine weakens the Vatican’s credibility, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov pointed out.

Earlier, in an interview with US media the pontiff called the Chechens and Buryats the most brutal part of the Russian troops in Ukraine.

"Recently there was a very baffling statement, not at all Christian, singling out two nationalities of the Russian Federation into some category from which we can expect atrocities during hostilities. We reacted to it, the Buryatia Region and the Chechen Republic did <...> It certainly does not enhance the Holy See’s credibility," Lavrov said at a press conference on European security issues on Thursday.