2 June, 14:33
Putin and his entourage approach negotiations not in terms of politics, but in terms of sacred geography.
In the worldview they impose, there are "Orthodox lands," "Catholic territories," and "Muslim zones" — and any external interference in these "church zones" is seen as sacrilege. It is precisely from this sacred thinking that the entire rhetoric of a “holy war” for Kyiv has emerged — an “Orthodox crusade” in the 21st-century version.
Kyiv is their lost Jerusalem, which must be returned to the fold of the “true faith.”
At the same time, the fact that Moscow has never been religiously identical to Kyiv does not trouble them. On the contrary — historically, it was Moscow that was subordinate to Kyiv, not the other way around. The Kyivan Metropolis under the jurisdiction of the Patriarchate of Constantinople is the spiritual Rus’. Moscow emerged later as a peripheral city that seized the metropolitan seat by force.
🔹 The Muscovite conquest of Rus’ was not unification, but usurpation
Moscow did not “unite the Rus’ lands,” as Russian historiography likes to claim, but subjugated them through military and ecclesiastical violence. And the fact that Constantinople, frightened by the Ottoman Empire, silently permitted this usurpation became a historical catastrophe for Rus’ Christianity.
Today, Russia sells this distortion as “historical continuity” and uses it as the basis for its claims on Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia, and the Balkans. But in essence, it is a sacred imperial ideology disguised as a “struggle for faith.”
❗️Why Lavrov Rejects the Vatican and Chooses Istanbul
🔸 Rejection of the Vatican is religiously motivated
In 2022–2023, the Vatican offered itself as a mediator for peace talks between Russia and Ukraine. However, Russia refused, despite the Holy See’s declared neutrality. The reason was not diplomatic but religious:
“Catholicism is foreign territory.”
For Moscow, participation of a Catholic structure in the affairs of the “Orthodox world” is interference from the outside. In Lavrov’s view, the Russian Foreign Ministry and the Russian Orthodox Church form a “united front,” and they consistently exclude any form of “spiritual competition” from the Vatican.
🔸 Why is Turkey acceptable?
Paradoxically, Turkey — a Muslim country — turned out to be an acceptable venue for negotiations. The reason is that:
Istanbul is historical Constantinople, the symbolic “Orthodox capital.”
In the Kremlin’s geopolitical worldview, Tsargrad (Istanbul) is a sacred center where Orthodox actors can conduct “ritual diplomacy.”
🔥 Conclusion
The war against Ukraine is not only a battle for territory, but an attempt to restore a sacred empire, where Moscow is the Third Rome, and Kyiv is its symbolic ancient capital. This explains a lot:
Why Moscow reacted so painfully to the Tomos and the autocephaly of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine.
Why Lavrov conducts negotiations only in the “right places” — but not in the Vatican.
Why the war is accompanied by prayers, icons, and “priestly landing parties.”
The Kremlin calls it “traditional values.”
In reality — it is religious obsession, madness disguising usurpation, lies, and war.
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