The head of the Russian Orthodox Church traveled to Belarus and met with President Alexander Lukashenko, the authoritarian leader and Putin ally who has ruled the nation since 1994.

“Usually, when you go to meet a head of state, you have different thoughts in your head, thinking what to say and how to act,” said Patriarch Kirill. “Here I feel at ease. Because I know that I am meeting a kindred person who has assumed a huge responsibility for the safety, for the preservation of his people, for the preservation of the identity of his people.”

“The human race will not survive if everyone is forced to follow the ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach and if people are governed by standards that are developed without their participation, by some think-tank centers,” Patriarch Kirill added. “People’s lives, policies and culture will be adjusted to fit these standards. Today, true sovereignty is more than political sovereignty. It is the freedom of people. I am glad to witness that Belarus is among those states that can be called sovereign states.”