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His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew welcomed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to the Phanar, the seat of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Istanbul, during the president’s visit to Türkiye. President Zelenskyy congratulated the Ecumenical Patriarch ahead of the 35th anniversary of his enthronement on Nov. 2, according to an account of the meeting the president posted on Saturday.
> Watch the full video on Zelenskyy’s Instagram
President Zelenskyy said he spoke about Ukraine’s “work with partners to achieve peace, including our contacts with the American side,” and briefed the Ecumenical Patriarch on “the constant Russian strikes on our energy infrastructure and everything that keeps people’s lives running normally.”
> Previously: Ecumenical Patriarch, Archbishop Elpidophoros meet with Zelenskyy
The two also discussed this week’s humanitarian operation in Oleshky, a Russian-occupied town in Ukraine’s Kherson region. Under a rare local truce that the White House said Melania Trump helped broker, hundreds of residents left by bus convoy and were flown through Belarus toward Ukrainian-held territory.
“This is a very important result,” President Zelenskyy wrote, adding that he hoped “the world will continue to pressure Russia so that such de-escalation steps can be expanded.”
It was the second meeting between the two this year. In April, in Istanbul, President Zelenskyy briefed the Ecumenical Patriarch on peace negotiations and invited him to visit Ukraine.
“I thank His All-Holiness for his consistent public stance, his support for our country, and his continued prayers for peace in Ukraine,” President Zelenskyy wrote on Instagram.
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