Russia rejects US accusations of attempts to split Orthodox church — embassy

WASHINGTON:  The United States is baselessly accusing Russia of attempts to split the Russian Orthodox Church, the Russian Embassy in Washin...

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WASHINGTON:  The United States is baselessly accusing Russia of attempts to split the Russian Orthodox Church, the Russian Embassy in Washington said, commenting on the US Department of State’s annual Report on International Religious Freedom.

"This time, in addition to routine insinuations, the United States, trying to turn the cause-and-effect relationship of the Ukrainian conflict upside down, groundlessly imputes on Russia an attempt to create division in the Orthodox Church," the embassy said in a statement. "At the same time, Washington ignores the fact that it is the Kiev regime which is stepping up day by day the infringement on the rights of believers."

The embassy called upon the US government to "to stop politicizing the issue of religious freedom, using it as a leverage to influence the domestic and foreign policies of other states" and to "better pay attention to its own problems and shortcomings."

"Russia has been developing over the centuries as a multi-confessional and multinational state. It has been shaping a respectful attitude to faith and traditions and has been standing up to it," the Russian diplomats said.

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