Russian President Vladimir Putin has arrived at the Church of Saint-Sulpice in Paris to attend the funeral ceremony of former French President Jacques Chirac.
Jacques Chirac passed away on Thursday, surrounded by his family. He will reportedly be buried near his daughter at the Montparnasse cemetery in Paris; she passed away in 2016.
Born in Paris on 29 November 1932 into a banking family, Chirac graduated from the Paris Institute of Political Studies in 1954 and went on to become one of France's most prominent politicians. After assuming the presidency in 1995, Chirac immediately initiated sweeping social reforms. In 2002, he was re-elected, defeating then-head of the National Front party Jean-Marie Le Pen. Upon his departure from office, Chirac supported the presidential bid of his interior minister, Nicolas Sarkozy.
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