Bartholomew, who has consistently shown support for Ukraine since the war began, recognized the Orthodox Church of Ukraine as independent from Moscow in 2019 — a move that prompted Russian Patriarch Kirill and the Russian Orthodox Church to sever contact.
Although Russian President Vladimir Putin has tried to justify the invasion of Ukraine in part as a defense of the Moscow-oriented Orthodox Church, leaders of both Ukrainian Orthodox factions — and the country’s significant Catholic minority — have strongly condemned the war.
Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople, who is considered the “first among equals” in Eastern Orthodoxy, said any future peace agreement “must include Ukraine as an equal participant.” He praised Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for his “tireless effort” to defend the country’s independence.
The top figure in Eastern Orthodox Christianity on Sunday declared that “Ukraine’s sovereignty is not up for debate, nor can it be negotiated under the guise of diplomacy,” as he celebrated Mass in Istanbul on the eve of the third anniversary of Russia's war in Ukraine.
Ukraine’s consul general to Istanbul, Nedilskyi Roman, thanked the patriarch for his “personal and spiritual” support to Ukraine.
