List of ambassadors of Russia to the Holy See

Ambassador of the Russian Federation to the Holy See
Emblem of the Russian Foreign Ministry
Incumbent Ivan Soltanovsky  [ ru ] since 16 May 2023
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Style	His Excellency The Honourable
Reports to	Minister of Foreign Affairs
Seat	Rome
Appointer	President of Russia
Term length	At the pleasure of the president
Website	Embassy of Russia in France

The ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation to the Holy See is the official representative of the president and the government of the Russian Federation to the pope in his capacity as the bishop of Rome, head of the Catholic Church, and head of state of Vatican City. ^{[1] [2]}

The post of Russian ambassador to the Holy See is currently held by Ivan Soltanovsky  [ ru ], incumbent since 16 May 2023. ^[3] In common with many representatives to the Holy See, the ambassador and his staff live and work outside the Vatican City, in Rome. Since 1992, the ambassador to the Holy See has also held the post of representative to the Sovereign Military Order of Malta.

History of diplomatic relations

Main article: Holy See–Russia relations

Formal diplomatic relations between the Holy See and the Soviet Union were only established in 1990, shortly before the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Representatives continued to be appointed by the USSR's successor state, the Russian Federation, and in 2010 the level of relations was raised to that of the exchange of embassies.

List of representatives (1990–present)

Soviet Union to the Holy See (1990–1991)

Name	Title	Appointment	Termination	Notes
Yury Karlov  [ ru ]	Representative	1990	25 December 1991

Russian Federation to the Holy See (1991–present)

Name	Title	Appointment	Termination	Notes
Yury Karlov  [ ru ]	Representative	25 December 1991	26 May 1995
Vyacheslav Kostikov	Representative	26 May 1995	19 September 1996
Gennady Uranov  [ ru ]	Representative	19 September 1996	11 January 2001
Vitaly Litvin  [ ru ]	Representative	11 January 2001	26 August 2005
Nikolai Sadchikov  [ ru ]	Representative Ambassador after 2010	26 August 2005	13 January 2013
Aleksandr Avdeyev	Ambassador	13 January 2013	16 May 2023
Ivan Soltanovsky  [ ru ]	Ambassador	16 May 2023

References

1. Постоянное представительство СССР в Ватикане (in Russian). Справочник по истории Коммунистической партии и Советского Союза 1898 - 1991. Retrieved 2009-11-18.
2. ПОСЛЫ РОССИЙСКОЙ ФЕДЕРАЦИИ В СТРАНАХ ЕВРОПЫ (in Russian). Worldwide Historical Project. Archived from the original on 2011-09-28. Retrieved 2009-11-18.
3. Nina Achmatova (14 January 2013). "Putin appoints ex Culture minister as new ambassador to the Holy See". AsiaNews. Archived from the original on 27 May 2014. Retrieved 26 May 2014.