Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has invited Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I to visit Ukraine.

"I want to say: we are waiting for you in Ukraine and we are looking forward to your visit," Poroshenko said on Saturday in Istanbul after the ceremony of signing the tomos on the autocephaly of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) by Patriarch Bartholomew.

"Thank God! Without God's will, this event would not have been possible – the signing of the tomos for Ukraine. I thank his All Holiness Bartholomew for faith, love for Ukraine and our people, courage to begin the process of granting the autocephaly to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, the completion of which we are celebrating these days," the president of Ukraine said.