Russian President Vladimir Putin welcomed Serbian Patriarch Porfiry in Moscow.
"I know that the Serbian Orthodox Church has made a significant contribution to strengthening relations between our nations, which have traditionally maintained the warmest, closest and most trusting allied relations," Putin said at the meeting, Russian state media reported.
Putin told Porfiry that he expected Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic in Moscow on May 9 to celebrate Victory Day.
On March 7, after a telephone conversation with Putin, Vucic confirmed that he would be visiting the Russian capital. It will be their first meeting since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began in 2022.
Prior to that, Patriarch Porfiry met with Patriarch Kirill at the headquarters of the Russian Orthodox Church and the official residence of the Russian Patriarchate at the Danilov Monastery in Moscow.
Patriarch Kirill conveyed to Porfiry that "the Russian Church has never had anything negative" in relations with the Serbian Orthodox Church and that the two churches have always maintained "mutual understanding, love and fraternal support."
Porphyry has pointed out that the good relations between the Russian and Serbian Orthodox Churches are "a good example for all Orthodox Churches."
Serbia has flatly refused to impose sanctions on Russia, despite calls from Brussels to do so as a candidate country for European Union membership. Vucic was warned by the Union that his country's accession process would be blocked if he travelled to Moscow for the May 9 trip. | BGNES
