MOSCOW, May 24. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday pointed out Russia’s good relations with the leadership and people of Egypt.
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"We have very good ties with all the people of Egypt without separating them into religious denominations," he said while meeting with the supreme hierarch of the Coptic Orthodox Church, the Orthodox Pope of Alexandria Tawadros II.
His meeting with the head of the Coptic Church took place in the residence of the Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia Kirill I, where he had arrived to congratulate the Moscow Patriarch on occasion of the day when the Church venerates St. Cyril the Enlightener of the Slavs, Kirill I’s patron saint.
Putin asked Tawadros II to convey the warmest and sincerest greetings to President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and the entire people of Egypt. Contacts with the Pope of the Coptic Orthodox Church, the person who is the top representative of Christianity in Egypt are rewarding for the Russian Federation.
Tawadros II thanked Putin, on his part, for the meeting and stressed the encouraging character of relations between Egypt and Russia. The Coptic Church is putting intensive effort into the upkeep of national unity the Arab country where both Christians and Moslems are two historical constituent elements of the nation.
"We’ll pray for improvement of (Russia’s) relations with Egypt," he said.