Pope Francis to receive Russia President Putin

Vladimir Putin will be received by Pope Francis next week. That will be the Russian president's first visit to the Vatican since the crisis in Ukraine erupted.

The Vatican has adopted a cautious stance on the conflict between Ukrainian authorities and pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine which has religious overtones. Francis has publicly voiced his frustration over "a war between Christians."

The Russian leader first met Francis at the Vatican on November 2013, before Russia's March 2014 annexation of Ukraine's Crimea peninsula and Russian agression in the east of Ukraine.