Pogrebinsky: Patriarch Bartholomew’s arrival in Ukraine may fail

Ukrainian political expert and strategist Mikhail Pogrebinsky. Photo: vesti.ua

Mikhail Pogrebinsky, director of the Kyiv Centre for Political Research and Conflictology, assumed that the planned visit of Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople to Ukraine on the occasion of Independence Day may not take place.

As the expert explained in the comments to the UOJ, the visit may be cancelled due to the fact that the position of the central government in the country is unstable.

During his Saturday visit to Ankara, President Vladimir Zelensky did not find time to meet with the Phanar head “It was a one-day visit, prepared quickly, spontaneously, and perhaps there were other issues on the agenda that needed to be resolved urgently,” the political expert noted. "Or the President is thus distancing himself from religious tensions within the country."

Mikhail Pogrebinsky described the situation in which the Ukrainian leadership found itself as "weak and unreliable". And if the unstable state of power intensifies over time, it may well happen that "the arrival of Patriarch Bartholomew to Ukraine, expected by summer, will fail".

On April 12, in an interview on the Ukraine 24 channel, the head of the liquidated UOC-KP Filaret Denisenko said that the purpose of Patriarch Bartholomew's visit to Ukraine is to emphasize the OCU's dependence on Constantinople.

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