MOSCOW, December 12./TASS/: Representatives from the Vatican have not yet apologized for Pope Francis’ remarks about the cruelty of Buryat and Chechen soldiers, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova wrote on her Telegram channel, commenting on statements from the Vatican’s Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin, who said the city-state could be a suitable place to host negotiators for dialogue on Ukraine.
"I’m afraid the Chechen and Buryat brothers and I did not appreciate that. As far as I remember, there have been no words of apology from the Vatican," Zakharova said.
Pietro Parolin said on Monday that the Vatican wanted "to offer a space where the sides could meet and start a dialogue without any preliminary conditions" on Ukraine.
Earlier, in an interview published by America The Jesuit Review magazine, the Pope called military personnel from Buryatia and Chechnya "the cruelest" soldiers in Ukraine. His remark sparked a wide public outcry both in these republics and in Russia as a whole. Russia’s Ambassador to the Vatican, Alexander Avdeyev expressed indignation and made a statement to that effect to the leadership of the diplomatic service of the Holy See. Maria Zakharova called such statements a distortion of the truth.
Pope Francis claims that his remarks about the cruelty of Buryat and Chechen soldiers were misinterpreted and were only a "figure of speech," the chairman of the World Union of Old Believers, Leonid Sevastyanov, said later, citing a letter he had received from the pontiff.
