decision points

december 9–10 (maastricht summit 1991)

december 9–10 (maastricht summit 1991)

the european council welcomed the fact that ukraine, russia and belarus had declared they would mutually recognize and respect each other’s territorial integrity and the inviolability of the borders existing in the context of any commonwealth that was formed.

november 25, 2013 (vatican)

vladimir putin meets with pope francis for the first time. the russian president is a self-proclaimed orthodox christian and has said repeatedly that he is a man of faith. putin is no stranger to popes, having chatted up benedict xvi and john paul ii in previous years.

november 30–31, (moscow)

speaking in moscow on the occasion of the 17th international russian gathering “russia as nation-civilization,” russian orthodox church head patriarch kirill says:

“let me start by saying that when we say russia we should have in our minds a multinational cultural formation. in absolute concrete historical and geographical dimensions we are talking about ancient rus. russia is alm…