On April 14, 2021, Patriarch Porfirije of Serbia received Alexander Alexandrovich, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine to the Republic of Serbia, at the Patriarchal residence, reports Spc.rs.

Patriarch Porfirije spoke about the closeness of Serbs and Ukrainians. Alexander Alexandrovich also gave several examples of historical, cultural and religious ties between peoples, and also noted that among the peacekeepers guarding Orthodox shrines in Kosovo and Metohija, there were also Ukrainian soldiers.

The Deputy Ambassador of Ukraine to the Republic of Serbia Mark Martynyuk and the head of the Chancellery of the Patriarch of Serbia, Deacon Aleksandr Praščević, attended the meeting.

“The Serbian Patriarch Porfirije has already voiced his position on the Ukrainian church issue. Therefore, the believers of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church should not consider this meeting as an attempt to negotiate the recognition of the OCU, but only as another official protocol reception by the ambassador of one of the states, which has its own embassy in Serbia. Let’s hope that in the future, with the help of dialogue, the exchange of historical and cultural information, relations between the fraternal Slavic peoples will develop, strengthen and benefit the Serbian and Ukrainian peoples,” a member of the press service of the Serbian Patriarchate Nikolay Sapsay commented on the event.