VOLGOGRAD, August 30. /TASS/. The Russian Orthodox Church is under tremendous pressure from the United States, which set itself a goal of destroying the unity of world Orthodox Christianity, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Monday at a meeting with the public and young adults in Volgograd.

He noted that the Russian Foreign Ministry cooperated closely with the Russian Orthodox Church, which has its parishes in many countries. "It is currently under tremendous pressure from a number of Western countries, primarily the United States, which set itself the goal of destroying the unity of world Orthodox Christianity. An extremely destructive role in that is played by the patriarch of Constantinople who tried to split the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church. Such attempts are now being observed against Belarus and Mediterranean countries, in particular, Syria, Lebanon and in the Balkans where the Serbian Orthodox Church is being subjected to very powerful attacks," Lavrov said.

Russia’s top diplomat stressed that the Russian Orthodox Church promoted its values abroad, which contributes to achieving Russia’s foreign policy goals. "[That concerns], first and foremost, the need to uphold traditional spiritual and moral values, which are currently under attack by neoliberal elites in a number of Western countries. This is also work to uphold our historical memory, our roots, the genetic code, if you like," he added.