Pope Francis May Come To Russia Due To Putin's Past Vatican Visits - Ex-Italian Minister

The fact that Russian President Vladimir Putin and Pope Francis have previously met on several occasions make the possibly that the latter will reciprocate with a visit to Moscow more likely, former Italian foreign minister and vice-president of the European Commission, Franco Frattini, told RIA Novosti

ROME (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 30th December, 2019) The fact that Russian President Vladimir Putin and Pope Francis have previously met on several occasions make the possibly that the latter will reciprocate with a visit to Moscow more likely, former Italian foreign minister and vice-president of the European Commission, Franco Frattini, told RIA Novosti.

Frattini's remarks were made as part of a project dedicated to the 20th anniversary of Putin's leadership. The project includes a series of interviews with Russian and foreign politicians, public figures, and athletes who have known Putin for many years.

"I believe that the meetings of Putin and Pope Francis, including their relatively recent meeting in the Vatican, make possible what previously seemed to be completely impossible, namely the Pope's visit to Moscow.

This would be a historic event, like the historic meeting of Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Kirill and Pope Francis in Cuba. Perhaps, now, the probability of such a visit is increasing," Frattini said.

Putin and Pope Francis have met three times in the Vatican � in November 2013, June 2015 and July 2019.

Ahead of Putin's visit to the Vatican in July, Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov said that the inter-church domain of Russia-Vatican relations must also be taken into consideration when it comes to Pope Francis' visit to Russia, since the Pope is not only the leader of the Vatican City State but also the head of the Catholic Church. According to Ushakov, the matter of the Pope's visit to Russia was not on the agenda.