Yelensky discusses religious freedom in Ukraine with Kellogg

Yelensky and Kellogg. Photo: State Service for Ethnopolitics press service

On July 15, 2025, a meeting took place between U.S. Special Representative Keith Kellogg and DESS head V. Yelensky, according to the State Service for Ethnopolitics press service.

“The discussion covered the religious situation in Ukraine, Europe, and the world, the state of church–state relations in Ukraine, as well as the contribution of churches and religious communities to the spiritual and humanitarian support of the population and the strengthening of the country’s defense capability,” the statement said.

DESS reported that Kellogg and Yelensky “noted the need for global resistance to the axis of evil formed by the world’s most brutal persecutors of religious freedom, who seek to spread repressive practices to all regions of the planet.”

Whether the participants discussed the destruction of the UOC by the Ukrainian authorities is not mentioned in the text.

Earlier, the UOJ reported that, according to Yelensky, the destruction of the UOC cannot be considered a violation of religious freedom.

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