Deputies sent a letter to the US President requesting that a clause on the protection of the rights of the UOC be included in the peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine

Ukrainian MPs Oleksandr Dubinsky and Artem Dmitruk sent a letter to US President Donald Trump, in which, among other things, they asked him to ensure that the issue of protecting the rights of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church is included in the peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine. The deputies hope that during the meeting between Trump and Putin in Alaska, the issue of persecution of clergy and believers of the UOC will become one of the important points of negotiation. Dubinsky wrote about this on his Telegram channel.

In a letter to the US President, the deputies pointed to the political persecution that has been taking place in Ukraine over the past few years. Among the individuals and public institutions subject to politically motivated restrictions, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church was also mentioned.

«Thus, not only individuals who have influence and trust in society have been disgraced. The largest Orthodox church, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, has been outlawed, the political opposition has been destroyed, and freedom of speech and the press have been suppressed. All dissidents were subjected to suspicion, criminal prosecution, or illegal, violent mobilization, which became an element of extrajudicial reprisals against journalists, lawyers, priests, and bloggers,» — the appeal states.

The MPs are convinced that Trump and Putin, during their meeting in Alaska, should develop a model for a peaceful settlement that will put an end to political repression in Ukraine, including the persecution of the UOC.

«The only way to change this course is to include a mandatory condition in the terms of the truce and subsequent peace agreement: the release of all those who have been and are being politically persecuted in Ukraine, the release of all those whom the Ukrainian authorities accuse of fabricated ‘treason’ (Articles 109 to 114 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine), the cessation of forced mobilization, the cessation of persecution of believers and priests of the UOC, the lifting of illegal sanctions by the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine against all Ukrainian citizens without exception, and the right to vote and be elected for all who have a Ukrainian passport,» — Dubinsky and Dmitruk urged.

Earlier, we reported that Stefano Forte, president of the Young Republicans Club of New York, expressed his support for the Primate and believers of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. The politician called on believers to be strong and remain faithful to their Church.