Ukraine's leading English-language newspaper since 1995

The leader of the Russian Orthodox Church arrived in Ukraine Monday for a 10-day visit aimed reasserting Moscow's dominance over a key Orthodox land whose leaders seek to shake off Russia's spiritual and political grip. AP Head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia believes that the Orthodox civilization can make its contribution into the formation of a united Europe and the dialog between the East and the West should not be based barely on the principles of the western world.

"We - the people originating from the baptismal font of Kyiv have a great deal to say to the world. We have come through a unique experience. Nobody has had such an experience," he said during a special program broadcast life on the Inter TV Channel on Tuesday night.

The primate of the Russian Orthodox Church believes that the orthodox civilization should participate in the dialog with the western world as an equal.

Patriarch Kirill expressed regret that the integration into Europe is currently driven not by spiritual but by material interests, the desire to "fill stomachs and pockets."

He said that the Orthodox civilization project is not intended to be guided but to generate the ideas. "Which is currently happening," the patriarch said.

The task of the Orthodox civilization is to make world-view challenges to others. "We have a potential for developing of a true dialog between the East and the west. Not the dialog of a horseman with a horse, but the dialog of equal partners. Only such a dialog will lead to the formation of a united Europe," Kirill stressed.