The Head of the OCU met with the U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State

The American diplomat was accompanied by employees of the US Embassy in Ukraine. The meeting was also attended by Archbishop Yevstratiy, Deputy Head of the Department for External Church Relations, the official website of the OCU reports.

In the conversation, the Metropolitan of Kyiv and all of Ukraine told the leading diplomatic representative of America about the development of the local Ukrainian Orthodox Church, interfaith and state-church relations, as well as preparations for the visit of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew to Ukraine.

"We appreciate the support that the United States of America has provided and continues to provide to Ukraine, especially in connection with the need to resist Russian aggression. We are convinced that this will continue, because we have the same desire — for Ukraine to be a democratic, sovereign, developed European state," Metropolitan Epifaniy stressed.

In memory of the visit, His Eminence presented the guests with a book about two years of life and the development of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine.