There are growing differences with Protestant denominations, he said. Over the recent years, "the Russian Church has seen less protestant communities cooperating in the cause of preserving the Christian legacy" due to "the relentless liberalization of the Protestant world," the Patriarch said. I find this very interesting. Many of our Reformed friends talk of the persecution in Russia by the Orthodox, but when I mention it to some Lutheran groups there they laugh.
I suspect that this is the other half of the story.