Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and all Rus' will meet with Pope Francis in Cuba in February.

Head of Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate, Metropolitan Hilarion Alfeyev  said the aforementioned at a press-conference today, TASS reports.

“Considering the visit of the Patriarch to Latin America on February 11-22 and at the same time Pope Francis’s visits to Mexico, their meeting will be held in Cuba,” Metropolitan said.

According to him, the meeting has been prepared for 20 years. “The meeting has been prepared long ago. During 1996-1997, intensive talks were conducted on organizing the meetings with Holy Patriarch Alexy II,” Metropolitan noted.

However, these talks were stopped due to the impossibility to reach agreement on certain issues.  

Vatican Radio reported that the Patriarch and Pope will sign a joint declaration on future relations between Vatican and Russian Orthodox Church (ROC).