Poroshenko reiterated the Ecumenical Patriarchate by its recent decision had finally called illegal Moscow's annexation of the Kyiv Metropole carried out in the late 17th century.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has said Ukraine has never been and will not be the canonical territory of the Russian church.

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"Ukraine has never been and will not be the canonical territory of the Russian church," he said during a unification council at Kyiv's St. Sophia Cathedral, an UNIAN correspondent reports.

Poroshenko reiterated the Ecumenical Patriarchate by its recent decision had finally called illegal Moscow's annexation of the Kyiv Metropole carried out in the late 17th century.

"They were told the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) has no canonical rights in relation to the Orthodox Church in Ukraine. And that our Orthodox Church is not subordinate to the ROC," the president added.