Pope receives Russian president

(February 18, 2011) Pope Benedict XVI received Russian president Dmitry Medvedev in the Vatican on Thursday and the two agreed upon strengthening bilateral relations and collaborating in the promotion of human and Christian values. A Vatican press statement stated that the "cordial" discussions also addressed "the positive contribution interreligious dialogue can make to society," as well as "the international situation, with particular reference to the Middle East." Medvedev, accompanied by the minister for foreign affairs, Sergey Lavrov, also met Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, and Archbishop Dominique Mamberti, Vatican Secretary for Relations with States. In the meetings, the Vatican said, "the broad-ranging collaboration between the Holy See and the Russian Federation was recognized, both in the promotion of specifically human and Christian values, and in the cultural and social field." The talks also included a discussion about "the positive contribution interreligious dialogue can make to society." The president gave the pope two volumes of letters in Russian written by former President Boris Yeltsin - including letters he wrote to Pope John Paul II - a Russian encyclopaedia on the Orthodox Church and a painting of Moscow, which includes a view of the Kremlin. Looking at the three books, Pope Benedict told the president, "I should learn Russian." The Pope gave Medvedev a mosaic of the Vatican. After Medvedev's previous meeting with Pope Benedict in late 2009, the Vatican and Russia upgraded their diplomatic relations to full-fledged ties.