CONSTANTINOPLE. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky telephoned Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, briefing him on the situation in Ukraine since Putin’s military attack, and thanking him for his support.

The Ecumenical Patriarchate issued the following statement:

“It is announced that this evening, Sunday, February 27, 2022, the President of Ukraine, His Excellency Volodymyr Zelensky, telephoned His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, to whom he described the prevailing situation in his country after the invasion of the troops of the Russian Federation, thanked him for the Ecumenical Patriarchate’s expressions of support for his suffering country, and pleaded with him to intensify his prayers for the ongoing struggle of the Ukrainians in defense of the freedom and territorial integrity of their homeland.

“The Ecumenical Patriarch assured His Excellency the President of the solidarity of the Mother Church and for her continuous prayers for the cessation of hostilities and the immediate end of the military conflicts, and congratulated him for his indomitable fighting spirit and the inspiration and support which he gives to his people with his brave attitude, and wished him strength and endurance from above to prevail in Ukraine, whose people, like other peoples, received the Orthodox faith from the Church of Constantinople.

“In the Patriarchate, on the 27th of February 2022

“From the General Secretariat of the Holy Synod”