Late last night, Vladimir Putin met with Helmut Schmidt, a German statesman and the fifth chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany from 1974 to 1982.

Vladimir Putin visited the South African embassy in Moscow and paid tribute to the memory of longtime South African leader Nelson Mandela.

Vladimir Putin had a telephone conversation with President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev.

Vladimir Putin had a working meeting with President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych. The two presidents discussed current bilateral relations and preparations for the upcoming meeting of the Russian-Ukrainian Interstate Commission in Moscow.

Vladimir Putin congratulated President of Finland Sauli Niinistö on the country’s national holiday, Independence Day.

Vladimir Putin expressed his condolences following the death of Nelson Mandela, former President of South Africa and one of the outstanding political figures of modern times.

Vladimir Putin met at his Novo-Ogaryovo residence outside Moscow with Secretary General of the Saudi Arabian National Security Council and Director of Saudi Arabian General Intelligence Prince Bandar Bin Sultan.

Vladimir Putin had talks in Yerevan with President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan, which then continued in expanded format with the two countries’ delegations taking part.

Vladimir Putin spoke at the closing of the business forum, which was held within the framework of the Russian-Italian Civil Society Dialogue Forum.

Top-level Russian-Italian interstate consultations in expanded format took place in Trieste, Italy, under the chairmanship of Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister of Italy Enrico Letta, with members of both countries’ governments taking part.

Vladimir Putin held talks with President of the Italian Republic Giorgio Napolitano in Rome. The two leaders discussed a wide range of issues in bilateral cooperation, first and foremost in the areas of trade and economics, investment and energy, as well as current international issues.

Vladimir Putin met with former Prime Minister of Italy and Special Envoy of UN Secretary-General for the Sahel Region Romano Prodi. Mr Putin and Mr Prodi exchanged views concerning the situation on the African continent, as well as migration-related issues.

Vladimir Putin met with Pope Francis during a brief visit to the Vatican. The President of Russia also met with Vatican Secretary of State Pietro Parolin.

Vladimir Putin expressed his condolences to President of China Xi Jinping.

Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan held a news conference following a meeting of the High-Level Russian-Turkish Cooperation Council.

Vladimir Putin took part in the fourth meeting of the High-Level Russian-Turkish Cooperation Council.