Political analyst: Ukraine will not negotiate with Russia on the UOC status

Volodymyr Fesenko. Photo: Dialog

Political analyst Volodymyr Fesenko has stated that the adoption of bill 8371 signifies that Ukraine will not engage in negotiations with Russia regarding the status of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC). He expressed this view in an article for Novoye Vremya.

Fesenko believes that Russia may insist that the restoration of the UOC in Ukraine should be a condition for ending the war. He urges preparedness for this potential issue.

Additionally, Fesenko notes that the adoption of this law could encounter significant resistance.

"With a high probability, there will be substantial resistance to the implementation of this law – both in terms of protests and legal challenges (appealing certain provisions and the implementation practices in courts, including the Constitutional Court of Ukraine and the European Court of Human Rights), as well as informational and political resistance (conducting informational and political campaigns against the ban on the UOC-MP in Ukraine, both domestically and abroad, particularly in various international organizations), and bureaucratic resistance (delays and simulation of its implementation). We must be prepared for this, planning appropriate countermeasures," he wrote.

As previously reported by the Union of Orthodox Journalists, Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada Ruslan Stefanchuk announced that Parliament will soon consider bill 8371, which effectively bans the UOC.

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