The head of the Ukrainian Catholic Church has warned his country cannot "defeat Russia" in its current war against separatist rebels, and urged Western countries to respond by continuing their sanctions policy against Moscow.
"We are witnessing the ever-greater militarisation of Russia, and with it a growing threat - I'm certain we have no military chance of thrashing the Russian army", said Archbishop Svetoslav Shevchuk of Kiev-Halych. "Ukraine must defend itself all the more since we know no one will else protect us and we must guarantee our own security. The alternative to military activities is dialogue and diplomacy, and that's the route we should be taking. But Russia's rulers don't respect diplomacy - Russia merely uses diplomacy to justify its violence".
The 49-year-old Church leader spoke during a Rome synod meeting of Ukraine's Greek Catholic bishops, as Kiev and Moscow completed a secretly negotiated exchange of prisoners taken during the five-year war in eastern Ukraine.
In an interview with Poland's Catholic information agency, KAI, he said Western backing remained crucial for Ukraine, but added that the European Union still seemed unaware of how the continuing conflict could affect European security. It was essential to obtain "truthful information" about events in the country, Archbishop Shevchuk said, to counter "the lying propaganda flowing from Russia".
The Rome synod was scheduled to end on Tuesday after a meeting between the Pope and 47 participating Ukrainian bishops, who were also urged last week by the Vatican's Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, to "remain open to everyone", and continue working to end the war, which has left at least 13,000 dead and 30,000 injured, according to the United Nations. Last weekend's prisoner exchange, involving 35 military and civilian detainees on each side, was welcomed by Church leaders in Ukraine and Russia as marking a possible easing of the conflict, despite violations of a July ceasefire.
In his KAI interview, Archbishop Shevchuk said he was "cautiously optimistic" about pledges by President Vladimir Zelensky, a Russian-speaking former comedian elected independent Ukraine's sixth head of state in May, to halt the war, adding that his first 100 days in power had witnessed a revival of "co-operation, solidarity and self-organisation" throughout Ukrainian society, which was being supported by the Catholic Church.
"It's expected above all that our pro-European course will be maintained, leading to an end to this war", said Archbishop Shevchuk. "But many are asking how this pro-European policy can continue while also leading to an end to Russian aggression. Can we stop the war without giving in to Russia?"