Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople affirmed Ukraine’s sovereignty during a Mass in Istanbul, stating it cannot be negotiated under the guise of diplomacy and must be included in any future peace agreement. He praised Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for defending the country’s independence and recognized the Orthodox Church of Ukraine as independent from Moscow in 2019, drawing tears from Ukrainians attending the service, including relatives of missing soldiers. Despite Russian President Vladimir Putin’s attempts to justify the invasion of Ukraine, leaders of Ukrainian Orthodox factions and the country’s Catholic minority have strongly condemned the war, with Ukraine’s consul general in Istanbul thanking the patriarch for his support to millions of Ukrainians worldwide.
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