Ecumenical Patriarch Vartholomaios (l), the spiritual leader of Orthodox Christians, and the recently elected Russian Patriarch Kirill exchange words during a service in Istanbul yesterday. The two churches have been at odds for several years over their spheres of influence but the two men attempted to put on a united front after talks. Vartholomaios said that progress had been made during Kirill’s three-day visit on the thorny issue of influence over Orthodox churches in some former Soviet states, most notably Estonia. He said that the problems would be approached with ‘good will and sincerity.’