Putin to meet Pope during trip to Italy

Russian President, Vladimir Putin, is set for a rare trip to Western Europe on Wednesday just two days after a G7 summit in Germany warned that Moscow risked more sanctions if the Ukraine crisis worsens.

Putin was set to be given an audience at the Vatican by Pope Francis in the early afternoon.

The leader of the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics and Putin are expected to discuss the crisis in Ukraine.

They are also expected also to discuss the plight of Christians in the Middle East, and Orthodox-Catholic relations, Kremlin adviser Yury Ushakov told Russian state media.

The pope has so far avoided taking sides in the Ukrainian crisis, while Western powers are on a sanctions war with Russia, accusing it of illegally annexing Crimea and fuelling unrest in eastern Ukraine.

In a Tuesday editorial, Italian media said the Vatican hoped to enroll Putin’s help in convincing the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, to agree to a historic meeting with Francis.

Putin was set to make a stop in Milan before travelling on to Rome, to visit the EXPO 2015 world fair with Italian Prime Minister, Matteo Renzi, and give a joint news conference.

Italy traditionally has strong ties with Russia.

In Rome, the Russian leader is scheduled to meet Italian President, Sergio Mattarella, and, possibly, former premier, Silvio Berlusconi.