Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko pledged in his New Year's address that Ukraine would "return" with peace to Donbas and Crimea.
KIEV (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 01st January, 2019) Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko pledged in his New Year's address that Ukraine would "return" with peace to Donbas and Crimea.
The address comes as Kiev continues a military operation against the self-proclaimed people's republics of Donetsk and Luhansk, which refused to recognize the new Ukrainian government that came to power in 2014 after what they considered to be a coup. Crimea rejoined Russia in 2014, � days after power change in Ukraine, � when 97 percent of those participating in a regional referendum voted for the reunification. Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that the issue of Crimea's territorial belonging is "historically closed" as Crimean residents decided to rejoin Russia in accordance with democratic procedures.
"I appeal to millions of Ukrainians in Crimea and on the other side of Donbas. We will definitely return to you with peace, no matter how long it may take. Our family will surely reunite at one table, at which the New Year is met by Kyiv time," Poroshenko said, as quoted by his press service.
In his address, he also promised that "the gradual growth of the economy and the restoration of living standards are ahead." The president warned against trampling "the sprouts of development" in the electoral race, without mentioning whether he planned to seek re-election in March.
Poroshenko also mentioned a "unification council" that was held in Kiev in December and resulted in creation of the "autocephalous Orthodox church" of Ukraine.
"We have become further from Moscow and closer to Europe. This is a clear strategy that has been steadfastly followed over the past five years," he added.
On December 15, a "unification council" was held in Kiev on the initiative of Poroshenko and Constantinople Patriarch Bartholomew, during which Epiphany Dumenko was elected head of the new "autocephalous church." The council was attended by representatives of mostly non-canonical structures, which are not recognized by the world's Orthodox churches, except for the Constantinople Patriarchate. According to Ukrainian media, only two bishops of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP) participated in the council. The Ukrainian authorities expect to get tomos of autocephaly from Constantinople in early January.
The Moscow Patriarchate described the situation as the "legalization of schism," stressing that it would have catastrophic consequences and affect millions of Christians in Ukraine and other countries. It also said that the canonical meaning of the "council" in Kiev was insignificant, and the possibility of recognizing Epiphany in the Orthodox world was a task "hardly possible to fulfill."
