Along the way, he criticized the autocephaly of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine and said that they wanted to do the same in Belarus in 2020.Lukashenka wants to return Ukraine to the “bosom of our true faith” \ photo REUTERS

Alexander Lukashenko said that he took a tougher course towards preserving sovereignty and independence and strengthening ties with fraternal states, including the Russian Federation, Kazakhstan and Ukraine. Moreover, Ukraine, according to Lukashenka , needs to be returned “to the bosom of our true faith.”

Visiting the temple in Minsk, he said that it would be difficult for such states as Belarus to survive alone, BelTA informs .

“Therefore, I took a tougher course to preserve our sovereignty and independence, so that we were a state. But we were in close connection with our closest friends and brothers,” Lukashenka said. “Who is this? This is Russia. This is Kazakhstan. Ukraine”. 

At the same time, Lukashenko believes that “the people there are destitute to the extreme” and “everything must be done to return Ukraine to the bosom of our true faith.” Along the way, he criticized the autocephaly of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) and said that they wanted to do the same in Belarus in 2020.

Recall that 3 years ago, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew handed the then newly elected Metropolitan Epiphany a  Tomos, declaring the creation of the OCU. During these 3 years, the OCU has recognized a third of the Orthodox world. In response, the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) unilaterally broke off Eucharistic communion with the Constantinople Orthodox Church.

(C)UNIAN 2022