Expert: Meeting of Zelensky and Pat. Bartholomew is a wish of State Dept
The US Department of State expects the newly elected President of Ukraine to continue the church policy of Petro Poroshenko, Konstantin Bondarenko believes.
The subject of Ukrainian Tomos was dealt with by the State Commissioner for Religious Affairs at the US Department of State, Samuel Brownback, recalled Ukrainian political analyst Konstantin Bondarenko in his commentary to Strana.ua on the planned meeting of Vladimir Zelensky with Patriarch Bartholomew in Istanbul.
“In general, a trip to Turkey is unlikely to be productive, and a meeting with Bartholomew once again proves that this is no more than a ritual visit,” the expert noted. “The second point – since a shady undertaking with the Tomos was planned in Washington (it was carried out by the State Commissioner for Religious Affairs at the State Department Mr. Brownback), respectively, Ukraine, remaining under the new president in the US ‘stream channel’, continues the same policy line. This is most likely also the desire of the State Department for the president of Ukraine to demonstrate that he will continue the course of the previous president.”
Nevertheless, the political expert believes that no one will carry out such an escalation in church policy as Poroshenko did, since “Zelensky is far from church-related issues”.
As reported by the UOJ, on August 7-8, 2019, President Vladimir Zelensky will be on an official visit in Turkey where he will meet with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople.
Recall, in the opinion of political expert Alexei Yakubin, people from Zelensky’s circle is trying to involve him in the church theme, and at the upcoming meeting with Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople, they will try to “probe” him for his readiness to continue the church policy of Petro Poroshenko.
