In response to a letter to the leader of the Russian Orthodox Church pleading for his intervention in the Ukraine conflict, Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk said his Church is praying for peace, and that it supports “direct negotiations” between Russia and Ukraine.
The president of the European bishops’ commission, Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich of Luxembourg, had on 8 March appealed to Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill to intervene for peace in the conflict with Ukraine.
Hollerich asked Kirill to “address an urgent appeal to Russian authorities to immediately stop the hostilities against the Ukrainian people and to show goodwill for seeking a diplomatic solution to the conflict, based on dialogue, common sense, and respect for international law, while allowing safe humanitarian corridors and unrestricted access to humanitarian assistance.”
Patriarch Kirill is the leader of the Russian Orthodox Church. It is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Church with an estimated 150 million members, accounting for more than half of the world’s Eastern Orthodox Christians. He is thought to be close to Russian president Vladimir Putin.