On Sunday, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, the spiritual leader of about 300 million Orthodox Christians worldwide and located in Istanbul, called for an end to the conflict in Ukraine.

“We make another call to terminate the conflict right now. To put an instant halt to any act of violence, anything that causes suffering and death.” In a statement, Bartholomew stated.

In his message, Bartholomew also condemned the conflict and expressed sympathy and support for the Ukrainian church, which was granted independence from Moscow, and the “gravely suffering” Ukrainian people.

In 2019, Bartholomew granted autocephaly to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, making it independent, in a historic split strongly opposed by Russia.