“I was supposed to meet him on June 14 in Jerusalem to talk about our business... I hope to meet him... in Kazakhstan in September,” TASS quoted him as saying.

The pontiff noted that earlier the meeting was decided to be postponed to a later date due to the conflict in Ukraine.

On March 16, Patriarch Kirill and Pope Francis had a conversation via video link, during which they "discussed a number of current issues of bilateral cooperation."

Earlier, the Russian Orthodox Church reported that they expect more favorable conditions for the meeting of the pontiff and Patriarch Kirill.