Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in Kiev on Saturday for politically charged festivities celebrating the arrival of Christianity in Russia and Ukraine, highlighting a tug-of-war over Kiev's moves to integrate with the EU, SIA reports citing foreign press.
The 1025th anniversary of Christianity in what was once known as Kievan Rus comes ahead of a November summit in Vilnius which could see the European Union sign a long-delayed association agreement with Ukraine.
Accompanied by Patriarch Kirill, the Russian leader and his host Viktor Yanukovych took part in a prayer service in central Kiev, the first item on Putin's agenda bulging with events designed to play up historic ties between the two majority Orthodox nations.
The two leaders are also scheduled to meet Ukraine's top Orthodox clerics and visit the country's main cathedral, the Kiev-Pecherskaya Lavra.
Ahead of the arrival of the top guests including the Serbian and Moldovan presidents, authorities in Kiev dramatically beefed up a police presence and sealed off access to the park where the prayer service was conducted.
Overlooking the Dnipro River, the park hosts a monument to Prince Vladimir the Great revered for converting ancient Rus to Christianity in 988.
Around 100 representatives of the ultra-nationalist party Svoboda (Freedom) and other nationalist groups staged a rally not far from the park protesting Putin's arrival.
The protesters held placards deriding the Russian strongman while police looked on.
Since coming to power in 2010, Ukraine's Yanukovych has performed a tight balancing act by seeking closer European ties while also trying to remain on good terms with prickly Soviet-era master Moscow.
Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov said closer cooperation would be discussed although no agreements would be signed.
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