LONDON, October 18. /TASS/. Queen Elizabeth II has received Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia at Buckingham Palace, her London residence, the patriarch’s secretary, Alexander Volkov, said on Tuesday.

The meeting is held behind closed doors and is scheduled to last for some 30 minutes.

Metropolitan Ilarion, the head of Moscow Patriarchate’s department for external church relations, Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby and Bishop of London Richard Chartres are also taking part in the meeting.

According to Volkov, the Queen and Patriarch Kirill will discuss problems of "Christians in the Middle East, as well as the current status of traditional Christianity in Europe, which, unfortunately, is facing hard times."

"We expects this meeting to be productive for the building of relations between our nations as the Church and monarchy are a foundation for the preservation of traditional values, which, unfortunately, are losing importance for many people," Volkov said earlier.