Russia’s concern about Yurash’s appointment as ambassador to the Vatican is not groundless, - expert opinion

This was stated by Dmytro Horyevoy on his Facebook page.

According to him, Yurash will be able to change the situation when they talk about Ukraine without Ukraine in religious matters.

"One of the priorities of Kyiv's state policy is the formula "nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine". This has been mentioned in the Minsk format, but forgotten in religious matters. I am simply sure that Ambassador Yurash, who was an active participant in the process of obtaining autocephaly (as the main profile official), will be able to convey this position to the Roman Curia," he said.

"From the point of view of Ukraine's interests, a repetition of the 2016 Havana meeting is unthinkable. Simply because the Pope should not discuss religious issues of Ukraine with the Moscow Patriarch. Kyiv already has its own independent, recognized head of the local Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Epipfaniy, so let the Vatican discuss the Orthodox-Catholic dialogue with him," he added.

"Pope Francis, like President Zelensky at the beginning of his cadence, speaks about peace in Ukraine – about an abstract peace when "they've just stopped shooting." At the same time, according to the teachings of the Catholic Church, peace is the fruit of justice. And here Kyiv can appeal to the concept of a just peace, in which the causes of war are eliminated. In a specific Russian-Ukrainian case, this means that peace is possible only after the de-occupation of Crimea and Donbas.

Or let's consider another example. The Pope, being a supporter of left-wing views, stands for equality. Among the common words, there are also specifics – he is against the right of veto in the UN Security Council, which is very much in the hands of Ukraine.

Over two years of failures in negotiations with Russia, Zelensky has greatly improved. So much so that he appoints an official from the time of Poroshenko, who has a reputation as a hawk of Ukrainian religious politics, to the Vatican. A skilled apparatchik and truly an expert in religious diplomacy, Andrey Yurash is undoubtedly able to seriously shake the Vatican Ostpolitik and weaken the fascination of the Holy See with Moscow," Dmytro Horyevoy stressed.