Kremlin wants Trump to overturn Ukraine's language, Russian church laws - MP reacts

As reported by the BBC Russian Service on September 29, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov claimed that the Russian language and the the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate are currently being oppressed in Ukraine. 

Speaking at the UN General Assembly in New York, Lavrov stated that Russia is prepared to “address the root causes of the Ukrainian crisis” - specifically, the refusal to join NATO and the repeal of laws regarding the Ukrainian language and the ban on the Moscow Patriarchate, which he argues ‘discriminate against the Russian-speaking population.'"

Lavrov made this statement after Trump met personally with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and assured him of his support if he wins the U.S. election.

“If Mr. Trump manages to repeal these laws we’re discussing, it will be a step forward. It simply requires taking up and voting,” Lavrov said.

However, he did not clarify how Trump, if elected president, should go about “repealing” Ukrainian laws or who should “take up and vote,” as he put it.

Ukrainian MP's response 

Mykola Kniazhytskyi, the author of the language law and the initiator of the law banning the Russian Orthodox Church, responded to Lavrov's remarks:

“It appears that Putin is more concerned about two laws we defended and passed in the Verkhovna Rada than he is about NATO. Lavrov is asking Trump to repeal the law on the Ukrainian language and the law on the prohibition of the Russian Orthodox Church. Our strength comes from these laws and from our people, who will never be defeated by the racist invaders,” said Kniazhytskyi, an MP from the European Solidarity party.

• On August 20, the Verkhovna Rada passed a bill, which bans the activities of religious organizations whose governing center is located in Russia.