Deacon: Russian Orthodox Church ready to facilitate dialogue between spiritual leaders of Azerbaijan and Armenia

The Russian Orthodox Church is ready to contribute to the process of normalization of relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia, continuing to support the dialogue between the spiritual leaders of the two countries, Deacon Ilya Kashitsyn, an employee of the Secretariat for Interreligious Relations of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate, taking part in the 21st meeting of the Secretariat of the Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions in Astana, told Report.

“The Russian Orthodox Church has been supporting a trilateral dialogue between the spiritual leaders of Azerbaijan, Armenia and Russia for more than 30 years. It has never abandoned and is not abandoning its peacekeeping position. Therefore, if necessary, it is ready to assist in the resolution of any controversial issues by all means. His Holiness Patriarch Kirill has repeatedly said this. Therefore, I think that the dialogue will continue,” said Kashitsyn.

Commenting on the meeting taking place today in Astana, the deacon noted that the congress initiated by Kazakhstan has a long-standing good tradition of dialogue between representatives of the world’s largest religions.

“It is very important that here in Kazakhstan such a platform is provided so that everyone can gather and talk face to face. Just like in Baku, the Center for Interreligious Intercultural Dialogue has been operating in recent years. These are very important and correct initiatives now. And, as recent events have shown, they are very timely and correct when the authorities and religious communities pay such attention to the dialogue of religions,” he noted.