“Peter did not believe in the kindness of his neighbors.” Patriarch Kirill said that Peter the Great resisted Western influence
During a religious procession in St. Petersburg, Patriarch Kirill spoke about the reasons why Peter the Great founded the city. His speech is quoted by Rotunda. “He realized that the capital would be Russia’s outpost in the West. He knew well that enormous influences, cultural and anti-cultural, pseudo-spiritual, came from there, from the West. He knew how, under the guise of liberating the shrines, the crusaders came and robbed the holy land,” the patriarch said.