In the afternoon of June 10, the Russian head of State and the Holy Pontiff will meet privately, Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi said.

Putin and the Holy Father might meet at the hall beside the Paul VI classroom, according to local media.

The meeting will be the second between the Russian president and the head of the Catholic Church since November 27, 2013, when they met in the Vatican and favored a peaceful solution to the conflict in Syria.

On this occasion, local media speculate that Putin and Argentinean Pope Jorge Mario Bergoglio will discuss the dispute in south eastern Ukraine, after extreme rightwing forces staged a coup d'état in February 2014.

Pope Francis called for an end to the fratricidal dispute between Christians in the regions of Donetsk y Lugansk, where the Ukrainian army launched a punitive operation against the rebel population in those regions in April 2014.

At least 6,500 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in that operation, according to a UN report, but German intelligence sources estimate 50,000 deaths.

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