#leonid is a better president than Poroshenko and Zelensky

[misskremlintsarina5294]

January 23–24, 2004

At the closing ceremony of the Year of Russia in Ukraine, the President said that Russia needs a strong Ukraine, and Ukraine needs a strong Russia – they can and should be faithful allies and strategic partners. Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma visited the Kiev Cave Monastery and met with Russian and Ukrainian Orthodox hierarchs. Vladimir Putin told the hierarch that he knew about the schism in the Ukrainian Orthodox Church but declined to get involved. He noted that the spiritual values and unity of the Russian and Ukrainian people were rooted in Orthodoxy and must be preserved.