Russian President Vladimir Putin has expressed his condolences on the death of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, whom he remembered as the driving force behind the Vatican’s good relations with both Moscow and the Russian Orthodox Church.
«Benedict XVI was an outstanding religious man and statesman, a staunch defender of traditional Christian values,» reads the telegram sent by Putin to Pope Francis and released by the Kremlin press service.
In 2009, during the pontificate of Benedict XVI, the Vatican and Russia fully recovered diplomatic relations, although in recent months Pope Francis has been particularly critical of the military offensive launched by the Russian Armed Forces on Ukraine.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
