Dr Williams said:

"We have heard with real personal sadness of the death of Patriarch Aleksii II of Moscow. He was a leader of stature, with abundant experience, determination and courage, who guided his Church with a steady hand through a profoundly challenging period of change in Russia's history. He will be remembered also as a friend to many outside his own Church, not least to myself and others in the Church of England, and he and the whole Russian Orthodox Church will be in our prayers at this time."