Kremlin says Russia to send culture minister to pope funeral

Russia's culture minister will attend Pope Francis's funeral this weekend, the Kremlin said Wednesday. "Culture Minister will, on Putin's decision, represent Russia at Pope Francis's funeral," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian news agencies.

Putin has not travelled to a Western country since 2022. The Kremlin said a day earlier that Putin has no plans to attend the funeral. The Russian leader had met the pope three times -- in 2013, 2015, and 2019. Ties between Moscow -- the seat of the Russian Orthodox Church -- and the Vatican have been icy for centuries and no pope has ever visited Russia. 

In 2016, Pope Francis met with Russia's Patriarch Kirill in Cuba -- the first encounter between a Catholic pope and a Russian Orthodox patriarch since the Great Schism in 1054.