President Vladimir Putin of Russia has met Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte and Pope Francis on a one-day visit to Rome. The Russian leader asked for the softening of the sanctions imposed on his country by the EU and the US since the war in Ukraine broke out.
ADVERTISEMENTRussian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday held talks with Pope Francis and the Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte during a one-day visit to Italy.
Putin's meeting with the Pope — their third in total — came a day ahead of a visit by Ukrainian Catholic leaders to the Vatican in which they're expected to talk about the crisis in their home country.
The war in Ukraine was another topic that Francis and Putin discussed before. It is believed the Pope demanded the Russian president to make an effort for peace.
Ukrainians demonstrated in Italy against the visit of the Russian president. They protest against the annexation of Crimea by Russia in 2014 which started the war between the two countries.
A 5-year war that resulted in more than 3.000 civilians killed and nearly 1.5 million people displaced.
Putin's meeting with Pope Francis comes just months after Ukraine's Orthodox Church, which had for centuries been under the control of the Russian Orthodox Church, declared its independence in one of the biggest Christian splits since the Great Schism of 1054 which resulted in the creation of the Eastern Orthodox and Catholic churches.
Russia has opposed the move, branding it more political than religious.
READ MORE: Ukraine's Orthodox church granted independence by Ecumenical Patriarch
In an interview with Corriere Della Serra published ahead of his visit on Thursday — which some believe could be a prelude to a papal visit to Russia — Putin criticised Ukrainian authorities for "forced Ukrainisation, bans on using the Russian language" and "attempts of the previous government to break the fragile inter-faith peace."
He also praised the right-wing populist League Party and its leader, Interior Minister Matteo Salvini, who he said "actively support restoring full cooperation between Italy and Russia and advocate an early lifting of anti-Russian sanctions imposed by the US and the EU" and denied any interference in electoral processes in the US and EU.
"Let me emphasise: we have never interfered in the internal affairs of the European Union member states or any other states and we are not going to," he said.
"We are interested in restoring full-fledged interaction between Russia and the EU and maintaining peace, security and stability on the continent we share. We are ready for constructive collaboration with all political forces that received a mandate from European voters," he added.
Watch Good Morning Europe's report on Vladimir Putin's visit to Italy in the player above.