Nobody can stop Ukrainians who build their own state - Poroshenko

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has said that nobody can stop Ukrainians who build their own state and remove the yoke of the Moscow church.

He said this on the square near the Holy Transfiguration Cathedral in Vinnytsia on Sunday, January 13, the press service of the head of state reported.

Poroshenko said that work on the creation of independence had not yet been completed.

"It's just the beginning. We need our unity as before or even more. Like in a prayer 'God, give us unity.' And God has given us unity and nobody can stop Ukraine and Ukrainians in our work and our way to build our own state. Nobody can stop Ukrainians leaving the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union. Nobody can stop Ukraine and Ukrainians who remove the yoke of the Moscow church and the Moscow empire," Poroshenko said.

He also added that "nobody can stop Ukrainians on our way to our freedom, to the European Union."

The president also stressed that the church should be protected from the influence of the state, especially from the influence of a foreign state.

"And now we are protecting our state and our church with love and prayer from influence because we are Ukrainians and we will not ask anyone for permission which church we should go to," the president said.