President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko has stated that the date of the Unification Council will be announced by the Ecumenical Patriarch, but suggested that it will take place soon.

"I can say that it will take place in the middle of December, and maybe in the first half of December. The participants of the council will elect the primate of the independent autocephalous local Orthodox, and most importantly, Ukrainian Church," he said.

He stressed that the primate of the church will be awarded the Tomos - a certificate of spiritual independence.

The head of state also stressed that "just as the army is the guarantor of our independence, the autocephalous Orthodox Church is the guarantor of spiritual independence."

"It is extremely important that the Ukrainian church will be one of 15 independent Orthodox churches, which the Ecumenical Orthodoxy consists of," Poroshenko said.