Pope Francis' words about Chechens and Buryats participating in a special operation on the territory of Ukraine do not add credibility to the Vatican, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said.
Earlier, Pope Francis, in an interview with US media, called the Chechens and Buryats "the most cruel part of the Russian troops in Ukraine."
"Recently a very incomprehensible statement was [made], not at all Christian, singling out two nationalities of the Russian Federation in some category from whom we can expect atrocities during hostilities. We reacted, Buryatia, the Chechen Republic, <...> of course this does not help the cause and the credibility of the Holy See," he said Thursday at a press conference on European security.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: Russian Foreign Ministry
Based on materials from TASS