President of Russia meets with the religious leaders of Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan

PRESIDENT OF RUSSIA MEETS WITH THE RELIGIOUS LEADERS OF RUSSIA, ARMENIA AND AZERBAIJAN

President Vladimir Putin of the Russian Federation met on November 24 in the Kremlin with the participants in the trilateral peacemaking meeting of the religious leaders of Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia, the Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos Kerekin II of All Armenians and the Moslem leader of Azerbaijan and chairman of the Caucasus Religious Council, Sheikh-ul-Islam Allahshuqur Pasha-zade, informed President Putin about the outcome of the trilateral negotiations held to help overcome problems in Armenian-Azerbaijani relations caused by the situation in Nagorny Karabakh. The parties reiterated clearly the need to seek to achieve as soon as possible a peaceful settlement of the dispute.

Russia’s president made a high appraisal of the peace efforts undertaken by the religious leaders of the three countries. “We are aware of the great role that their authority has played in the reconciliation of the Armenian and Azerbaijani peoples”, he said.

After the meeting with the president, Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad, chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Department for External Church Relations, who also participated in it, answered questions from journalists. In his opinion, the meeting between President Putin and the religious leaders of Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan gave an important impulse to the peace settlement of the Nagorny Karabakh problem.