US provoked current processes in world Orthodoxy to weaken Russia — MFA

The US is largely responsible for provoking the current processes in the world’s Orthodoxy, its aim being to weaken Russia, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov told the media on Wednesday.

"It is convenient for them to create an impression they do not have this information (about the situation around the UOC in Ukraine - TASS). It is the United States that to a large extent provoked the processes afoot in Orthodox Christianity around the world. These processes are extremely complicated, but by and large they pursue the same aim - that of weakening Russia. It’s an anti-Russian course. It’s an attempt to weaken Moscow's influence, the way they see it. All this is behind the US policies, including those with regard to what is happening around the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra," he said in response to a TASS request for a comment on the US Department of State's unwillingness to assess the situation involving the UOC in Ukraine. [TASS]