Russian Patriarch is optimistic:

With Benedict XVI, relations between the Orthodox Church and the Vatican will change “for the better”. The Orthodox patriarch of Moscow and all the Russias, Alexei II, has once again reiterated his great confidence in, and esteem for, this pope who, he is certain, “will become famous and will be remembered”. However, Alexei II persisted in underlining “existing difficulties between the two Churches”, repeating that a solution called for “concrete facts”. Yesterday, in an interview with the Italian press agency ANSA, the patriarch talked about the common challenges facing Catholics and Orthodox in Europe, to which the two Churches must respond with “closer” collaboration.