Russian Foreign Minister reiterates defense of UOC rights as an uncompromising issue in the negotiation process with Ukraine

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said that compromises regarding Ukraine cannot concern key, basic principles on which the lives of the state and millions of people depend. The foreign minister emphasized that this concerns, among other things, issues related to the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church. These statements were made against the background of constant discussions on possible ways of peaceful settlement of the conflict, RBC reported.

In an interview with Empathy Manucci, Sergey Lavrov said that Russia is always ready for compromises, which is understood as a balance of interests, when the legitimate interests of each state are taken into account. However, according to him, as far as Ukraine is concerned, these compromises cannot affect «key, basic principles on which the life of the state and, most importantly, the lives of millions of people depend.» He specified that this category includes Russia’s security issues, as well as «the extermination of the… of the canonical Orthodox Church» in Ukraine. According to RBC, these topics the Russian delegation raised at the talks in Abu Dhabi.

We will remind, earlier the US permanent representative to NATO Matthew Whitaker said that the ceasefire agreement in the war between Russia and Ukraine may include the protection of the rights of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. Whitaker noted that US President Donald Trump was making considerable efforts to resolve the Russian-Ukrainian conflict and that the best moment for this was coming now.