Expert: Zelensky will back US course on promotion of OCU

Kirill Ryzhanov, political expert. Photo: screenshot of the video from the First Cossack YouTube channel

Vladimir Zelensky, who initially took a position of neutrality in religious matters, will follow the US course of supporting the Patriarchate of Constantinople and promoting the OCU to demonstrate that he is on the "right side". This point of view was expressed by political expert and journalist Kirill Ryzhanov on the air of First Cossack.

The expert noted that in recent months we have seen a "drift, albeit very slow, towards the religious course pursued by Poroshenko" on the part of Zelensky – the president's visit to Phanar, his meeting with Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople and a crucial agreement on the latter's visit to Ukraine.

Such a dramatic change in the course, Ryzhanov believes, is associated with certain signals he receives and the desire of the Ukrainian president to earn overseas bonuses.

For example, recently the US Ambassador to Greece Jeffrey Payette made a vibrant statement in which he directly accused the Russian Orthodox Church of creating a schism in World Orthodoxy and expressed his conviction that the OCU would be further recognized by the Local Churches.

“Undoubtedly, the logic of US interests lies in the weakening of the Russian Orthodox Church, which is politically viewed as a kind of agent of Russian influence. Such separate statements by diplomatic officials and informal contacts show Vladimir Zelensky a clear vector to support the position of the Patriarchate of Constantinople in this conflict,” he explained.

In the future, the expert believes, we are likely to see a kind of "half-hearted policy" of Zelensky, when "at the external level, official structures will even more actively take the side of the Patriarchate of Constantinople in this intra-Orthodox dispute" to once more demonstrate that "we are on the right side." Internally, "Vladimir Zelensky will nevertheless adhere to his earlier chosen policy of non-interference," but he will not be able to continue this way for long.

“The OCU will be hailed as the only Ukrainian Church and, accordingly, its promotion will be equal to the advancement of national interests. But the desire to get additional foreign policy points at this cost threatens with very specific implications in the domestic policy, too,” stressed Kirill Ryzhanov.

Earlier, the UOJ wrote that the US ambassador to Greece accused the ROC of splitting World Orthodoxy.

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