Russia-Ukraine war: Church leader says no dialogue with Russia if Moscow deems Ukraine as a colony

The leader of Ukraine’s Byzantine-rite Catholic church said this week that there would be no dialogue with Russia so long as Moscow sees Ukraine as its colony. This comes as Kyiv has said it will never agree to surrender its territories to Russia.

In what would be his first trip outside Ukraine, Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk visited the Vatican to meet with Pope Francis. Shevchuk said Monday that there could be no dialogue with Russia so long as Moscow sees Ukraine as a colony it must subjugate.

“The war in Ukraine is a colonial war and peace proposals by Russia are proposals of colonial pacification,” said Shevchuk following the meeting. Shevchuk has urged the Pontiff to visit Ukraine several times and gave the Pope a piece of shrapnel from a Russian mine that destroyed the facade of a church in Irpin back in March.

Around 200-300 civilians were killed in Irpin before Ukrainian forces reclaimed the town in late March.

“These proposals imply the negation of the existence of the Ukrainian people, their history, their culture, and even their Church. It is the negation of the very right of the Ukrainian state to exist with the sovereignty and territorial integrity that is recognized by the international community,” said Shevchuk. “With these premises, Russia’s proposals lack a basis for dialogue.”

Ukraine has said it would never surrender any inch of its territories and that the so-called lawful referendums cannot be held in the occupied territories where many people were killed or driven out. Kyiv has also said it will not negotiate with Russia as long as Vladimir Putin remains its president.

A senior Ukrainian presidential adviser reiterated Monday that Ukraine has never refused to engage in dialogue with Russia and that it was ready for talks with Putin’s successor rather than Putin himself. This follows the report by the Washington Post that the administration of US President Joe Biden was privately encouraging Ukraine’s leaders to signal a willingness to negotiate with Russia.

Presidential adviser Mikhailo Podolyak also said that Russia must withdraw its troops completely from Ukraine. Podolyak made clear that Kyiv will only talk to Putin’s successor.