Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople, who holds a primacy of honor among the Orthodox churches, told CNN Turkey that “the whole world is against Russia.”
“We are entering a new period of the Cold War,” he continued. “The distance between Russia and the Western world is getting wider. The one who thinks and acts rationally, does not want this situation, this new period of Cold War.”

The Ecumenical Patriarch spoke in support of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU), to which he granted canonical recognition in 2019, and said he has had “very good relations” with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.