Rome, June 11, 2015
On June 10, 2015, Vladimir Putin made a visit to the Vatican City and had a meeting with Pope Francis I, reports the website of the Russian Federation’s President.
During the informative and friendly conversation that lasted for more than an hour the current situation with the world affairs was discussed, including the present crisis in the Ukraine. President Putin and Pope Francis touched upon the universal and humanitarian values which in many ways unite both the Catholic and Orthodox worlds as well as all major religions. Both parties expressed their concern about the situation of Christians in the Middle East.
Last February, the pope referred to the bloodshed in the Ukrainian conflict as fratricidal, a comment seen as controversial in Ukraine, where the violence is viewed as a direct consequence of Russian aggression, reports the Guardian.
President Putin also met with Italian prime minister Matteo Renzi. According to the Guardian, Renzi said at a press conference after the meeting that even though different countries within Europe had “different ideas” about how the sanctions were reached, all of the EU was “in the same place”. He said that the implementation of a peace plan agreed in Minsk would end the phase of “diatribes and sanctions” against Russia. The two leaders also discussed how sanctions had prevented Italy and Russia from working together on a number of projects involving Italian companies, Renzi said
