His Holiness Kirill, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, who is on a three-day visit to Armenia, said that "such visits are important and indicate a high level of relations between the Russian Orthodox Church and Armenian Apostolic Church.

"I am glad to step on this blessed and troubled land," he said.

Catholicos of All Armenians, His Holiness Karekin II, in turn, said that relations between the two Churches have a long history. "We rejoice that these relations exist not only between our churches, but between the two countries. We appreciate highly the exclusive paternal attitude the Russian Patriarch assumed to the children of our Church in Russia,” he said.