"Was a serious man": a new Russian ambassador in the Vatican can be a scout - the media

According to experts, a new representative of the Russian Federation in the Vatican fourteen years ago was sent to NATO as an intelligence officer. In Russia, a new ambassador was elected to the Vatican. This diplomat probably had experience in intelligence structures and worked under a pseudonym. About it reports LRT. Russia has recently announced the appointment of an ambassador to Ivan Soltanovsky Vatican.

According to information received from the Lithuanian publication, fourteen years ago he was sent to NATO as an intelligence officer. Analysts say that this appointment indicates the importance of the Holy See to Russia, and therefore they urge Western countries not to underestimate the impact of the Vatican on global policy. "He was such a serious person, and for some reason there was a lot of everywhere," says Romaldas Vaishnoras, a diplomat of Lithuania's mission at NATO in 2008-2009.

Until 2009, he was a deputy ambassador of Russia to NATO, but it is believed that he worked not only with a diplomat. According to the source, Soltanovsky's career in NATO ended as a result of the first wave of expulsion of Russian scouts operating under diplomatic cover. Despite the unofficial rule, according to which NATO diplomats expelled do not access the Alliance members, Soltanovsky was appointed in 2015 by a permanent representative of Russia in the European Council in Strasbourg.

"He was well known in NATO and other countries, it would be difficult not to know the specifics of his career," says Lithuanian state and politician Linas Linquyvichus. After the exclusion of Russia from the Council of Europe, because of a full -scale war in Ukraine, Soltanovsky's career returned to the Vatican.