Russian Foreign Minister on Zelensky's ban on the UOC: "He doesn't give a damn about the Constitution of Ukraine"

The head of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Sergey Lavrov, has commented on the negotiation process between the Russian and Ukrainian sides, touching on the protection of the rights of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. The diplomat noted that although Volodymyr Zelensky, — refusing from the negotiating positions, — constantly appeals to the Constitution of Ukraine, in fact he regularly violates the main law-making act of his own country, banning the canonical UOC and introducing a number of unconstitutional restrictions on national minorities. Lavrov’s words are reported by TASS.

«When Vladimir Zelensky says that he can’t even discuss the territorial issue because it’s written in the constitution. He doesn’t give a damn about the constitution. He is obliged by it to cancel all these cave laws on extermination of the Russian language and the canonical Orthodox Church, » Lavrov emphasized.

The minister added that according to media reports, Ukraine undertakes to follow the EU norms on tolerance or banning the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. However, in his opinion, Ukrainian politicians only need to comply with their own Constitution and the UN Charter, which very unambiguously describe the rights of religious organizations and national minorities.

«But the question arises: what does the European Union have to do with this? And why does the EU want to claim some kind of dominant role in defining human rights? There is the UN Charter, which has been ratified by everyone without exception. It says that every state is obliged to ensure human rights regardless of race, gender, language and religion. As far as language and religion are concerned, this provision of the UN Charter has been trampled on in Ukraine. The same way the country’s constitution has been trampled on,» he said.

Earlier, MP Roman Kostenko confirmed that during the negotiation process with Ukraine, the Russian side put forward demands regarding the protection of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC).