Ilia II, the Patriarch of the Georgian Orthodox Church, met with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in Moscow on December 9.

Ilia II is visiting Moscow where he paid final farewell to Russia’s late Patriarch Alexy II. Ilia II conducted a prayer at the funeral ceremony in Moscow’s Christ the Savior Cathedral.

“I have met with President Medvedev. He is very well disposed towards [resolving] those problems which we have [in relations]. I think we will have good results,” Ilia II told a group of journalists in Moscow after the meeting.

The Kremlin issued a one-sentence press-release saying that the meeting was held. The Georgian television station, Rustavi 2, reported that the meeting lasted for 45 minutes.  

The Georgian Orthodox Church delegation visited Moscow a month ago and met with Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister, Grigory Karasin, which was the first official contact between the two countries after the August war.