Doesn't have what? A contact at Lubyanka? :)))) I hope not.
Mind you, I am not condemning either one, but if you are going to condemn one, then the other deserves your wrath equally.
Good point.
My reasoning of Pope vs. the Russian guy goes along these lines- one is far way, all the way somewhere in Italy, the other is in the neihboring country and has direct influence on the affairs of Ukraine.
The Vatican has direct control or influence in nations on the other side of the world (Ever heard of why the Founding Fathers warned against the Jesuits?) well out of proportions to their locations. But regardless, you're either Orthodox or Catholic or Protestant, and that alone will explain quite a bit of your stance.