Russian influence on the Vatican is a myth, - Yurash

Andriy Yurash, Ukraine’s ambassador to the Vatican, denied the existence of Russian influence on the Vatican. According to the diplomat, although some representatives of the Holy See have close contacts with the Russian side, this does not affect the Vatican’s position as a whole. He spoke about this in an interview with LB.ua.

«This is one of the myths. If you look at the real situation, I would in no way agree with the thesis that there is some kind of very powerful Russian influence there. In this context, I would like to remind you: if you review any official documents of the Holy See — not private, not behind-the-scenes, not speculative, not intriguing, not presented for the sake of sensationalism, but real documents — you will not find anything there that could even remotely be called pro-Russian or reflecting the Russian position,» — Andriy Yurash emphasized.

Earlier, Volodymyr Zelensky accused the former head of the Vatican of being influenced by Russian propaganda. Zelensky was responding to Pope Francis’ statement that freedom of conscience is restricted in Ukraine, referring to the ban on the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.