Russia ‘closely follows’ autocephaly of Ukranian church

By Elena Teslova

MOSCOW

The Kremlin closely follows the events regarding the granting of independence to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church from Russia's, spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday.

As the Orthodox religion one of the biggest in Russia, "what is happening in the world of Orthodox Christianity is a topic for increased attention from the state", Peskov told journalists in Moscow.

"But the state will not interfere in the inter-church dialogue", he added.

On Thursday, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church was agreed to be independent of the Russian Orthodox Church during a meeting held at Fener Greek Patriarchate in Istanbul.

Metropolitan Emmanuel of France told the media the Ukrainian church's independence request was approved.