Vatican City, Jul 14, 2004 / 22:00 pm
This morning the vice-director of the Holy See Press Office, Fr. Ciro Benedettini, C.P., announced that a meeting had taken place between the Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, and the Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Angelo Sodano.
“In the course of the meeting,” said Benedettini, “there was an exchange of views on bilateral relations between the Holy See and Russia and on the international situation, with special interest in dialogue among cultures and collaboration within international organizations.”
He added that “the serious problem of peace in the Holy Land and Iraq was also touched upon” and that “the meeting demonstrated the cordial relations that exist between the two parties and the possibility of further developments.”
Archbishop Giovanni Lajolo, secretary for Relations with States and Vitaly Litvin, ambassador of the Russian Federation to the Holy See, also participated in the meeting.