“Peace for Ukraine Means Space to Live,” says His Beatitude Sviatoslav on the Conditions for a Just Peace
During the year-end broadcast of the program “Open Church” on Zhyve TV, His Beatitude Sviatoslav, Father and Head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, together with the director of the Kyiv Security Forum, diplomat Danylo Lubkivsky, discussed the issues of lasting and just peace, red lines for Ukraine in negotiations, and the hopes with which Ukrainians are entering the new year.
Speaking about Ukrainians’ aspiration for peace, the Head of the UGCC emphasized that it is hard to find a nation in the world that wants to achieve it so much, prays for it so much, and builds it as much as Ukrainians do. At the same time, he noted that today the notion of peace is being dangerously distorted.
“We understand how much the word ‘peace’ today is not only becoming ambiguous, but also losing its meaning. I remember talking in Australia about ‘Stalinist peace’: if there is a person, there is a problem; if there is no person, there is no problem. Peace meant killing those with whom one had to come to terms. This is a completely different category. I would say it is a degeneration of the very idea of peace.”
His Beatitude Sviatoslav noted that today it is often said that peace must be grounded in certain principles: truth, freedom, international law. However, he suggested looking at this issue somewhat differently—from the perspective of a priest: “I am a priest. I have a duty to care for the people whom God has entrusted to me. I look into the eyes of the children from Zaporizhia and understand that peace means their future. If, in any agreements or negotiations, our youth, our children, cannot have a decent future at home, then it is not peace. It will be either appeasement of the aggressor or capitulation. We have no right to allow these scenarios to happen in the name of the good life of those people and children whom God has entrusted to our guardianship.”
According to His Beatitude Sviatoslav, this is why Ukrainians speak of peace as a space for life — a concept that acquires concrete meaning in the context of war.
“We talk about peace as a space for life. This may be a philosophical concept, but in our reality it is very concrete. We see that Russia wanted to bring ‘peace’ to Donbas, but destroyed it with a policy of total war, scorched earth, deportation of the population, and the ruin of those cities and villages it managed to reach. When we are now urged to surrender our territories, the question arises: for what purpose? So that the same death that has already been brought to those territories be brought again? We want to live. Therefore, for Ukrainians, peace is a space for life.”
The Head of the UGCC also emphasized that peace agreements must have a real impact on people’s lives: “If the agreements do not allow us to create space for life, development, prosperity, and a future for our children on our native land, then it will be just another signed declaration that will never be implemented in reality. We say to everyone: Ukraine is not a territory, it is living people. Therefore, do not talk about territories—talk about people and their rights. For some reason, no one wants to talk about human rights today, but instead they talk about the interests of major geopolitical players. I think this is a big mistake and a weakness of modern diplomatic negotiations.”
Speaking about peace as a space for life, Danylo Lubkivsky noted that this vision dates back several centuries and is rooted in the advanced intellectual pursuits of Ukrainian thinkers, shaped in the environment of Saint Sophia Cathedral, Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, and Vydubychi Monastery since ancient times. He also recalled the concept of Kyiv as Zion, the second Jerusalem — a space of life and resurrection that opposes the imperial idea of death.
“Instead, our enemy chose the theory of the Third Rome—a theory of enslavement and death. And it is this imperialist idea that is at war with Ukraine today,” emphasized Danylo Lubkivsky.
According to him, Ukraine’s experience of fighting for peace is of global significance.
“That is why, by historical fate, that today the Ukrainian people carry the idea of peace as life in conflict with imperialism. And this applies not only to Ukraine, but to the whole world. Therefore, the resolution of this conflict cannot come at the cost of the lives of our people or other peoples to please those who believe that the right of the strong can rule the world.”
“Our red line is the protection of the sovereignty and life of the Ukrainian people,” added Danylo Lubkivsky. “Ukrainian peace is the responsibility of all other states, which should say: ‘This state is with us. Don’t disturb it.’ That should be the end of the war.”
“The Christian faith says that our hope is hope for life and Resurrection,” emphasized His Beatitude Sviatoslav. “We know for sure that on the path to a just peace, we follow Christ. We do not know what the next year will hold, but we are convinced that Christ will be present in it. As Christians, we understand that the future belongs only to God. Not to presidents or oligarchs. All of this is temporary. With this perspective, we enter the New Year 2026. May all that is divine flourish and triumph within each of us.”
The UGCC Department for Information
