United Nations: Russia hopes that Ukraine will become realistic and sit down to negotiate, Russian Ambassador to the United Nations Vasily Nebenzia told journalists.
“We hope that our Ukrainian colleagues will become realistic and will come down to the table to discuss,” Nebenzia said during a press briefing on Tuesday.
At present, relations between the Russian and Ukrainian missions to the United Nations are non-existent and the ambassadors do not interact one with another within the UN premises.
Earlier in the day, Russia organized a meeting at the UN Security Council on the issue of persecution of the opposition in Ukraine and on the continuing crackdown on the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. Metropolitan of Volokolamsk Anthony, chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate’s department of external church relations, joined the discussion.
Metropolitan Anthony said that Ukraine reduces the possibility of dialogue by attempting to destroy the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
