MOSCOW, October 21. /TASS/. Western countries are deliberately destroying any remaining chances for communication by distorting the position of Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia and the Russian Orthodox Church, and such steps are suicidal, Vladimir Legoida, head of the Russian Orthodox Church’s public and media relations department and Professor of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s MGIMO University, said on Friday.

"It is diplomatic and political absurdity what we are facing now, how the position of the Russian Orthodox Church and the Patriarch is being evaluated without any regard for reality, as well as those actions that are being taken, including the sanctions," Legoida said commenting on the sanctions imposed on Patriarch Kirill and Western criticism targeting the Russian Orthodox Church.

"In my opinion, this conscious destruction of those remaining chances for communication by those who we now call the collective West is suicidal. Nevertheless, we see it happening," he said at a roundtable discussion on the use of religion for political purposes in the Western countries.

Legoida pointed out that the West is ruining "soft power", which should be preserved regardless of any "political turbulence." He believes that the ‘bridges’ must be preserved so that the countries can communicate with one another.