Pope Francis looks on during a welcome ceremony at the Presidential palace in Tbilisi, Georgia, September 30, 2016. REUTERS/Alessandro Bianchi
TBILISI (Reuters) - Pope Francis called for respect for international law and the sovereign rights of nations as he arrived in Georgia on Friday, an implicit criticism of Russia, which keeps troops in two breakaway areas of the ex-Soviet state.
But Francis measured his words carefully, in an apparent attempt not to hurt the Vatican's increasingly warm ties with the Kremlin-backed Russian Orthodox Church.
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