Vatican City, 25 Nov. (AKI) - Pope Francis was Monday due to grant Russia's president Vladimir Putin a private audience at the Vatican amid a warming of ties with his country's Orthodox Church.

At their meeting, scheduled for 17.00 local time, Francis and Putin were expected to discuss international issues, as well as relations between the two churches, which have been separated for nearly 1,000 years.

Putin was travelling to Rome with Russia's foreign minister Sergei Lavrov and defence Minister Sergei Shoigu.

Later on Monday, he was due to meet Italy's head of state Giorgio Napolitano and on Tuesday, Italy's prime minister Enrico Letta, at a bilateral summit in the northeastern port city of Trieste.

It was not clear if Putin's visit to Italy would include a meeting with his personal friend and three-time prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, who is facing expulsion from the Senate upper house of parliament on Wednesday following a binding tax fraud conviction.

Putin's papal audience comes two weeks after the pontiff granted an audience to Metropolitan Hilarion di Volokolamsk, head of external relations for the Russian Orthodox Church.

The same day - 12 November - Patriarch Kirill held a meeting in Moscow with Cardinal Angelo Scola, a top Vatican official for Catholic-Orthodox relations.

The Catholic Church is seeking to strengthen relations with the Russian Orthodox Church, which has frequently accused it of proselytising in Russia.

Ties between the Catholic and Russian Orthodox churches have seesawed but have improved since the coming to power in 2009 of Patriarch Kirill, and there are hopes for an historic meeting with a pope.