ROME/BUENOS AIRES, March 12. /TASS/. Relations with Russian Ambassador to the Holy See are excellent, Pope Francis said in an interview with the Argentina’s La Nacion news outlet and the Infobae web portal.

"I have excellent relations with the Russian Ambassador. He is the man from whom I accepted credentials several years ago," the Pontiff told La Nacion. "He knows a lot about the [Ukrainian] conflict. He is a very serious man, a professional, and a dialog can be conducted with him. And whilst it is possible to hold the dialog, we will progress ahead", Pope Francis noted.

"I am talking to the Russian Ambassador. He is a very decent, an excellent man," the Pope said in the interview with Infobae.

On February 25 of the last year, the Pontiff personally visited the Russian Embassy to the Holy See to ask Avdeev about the situation in Ukraine and Donbass. This was an absolutely exceptional case in the diplomatic practice beyond the framework of adopted protocol.