An Orthodox archbishop who exchanged friendly greetings and gifts with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska has apologized to “those who have experienced pain, suffering, or confusion because of my actions."
However, Alaska Archbishop Alexei did not directly apologize for the meeting itself, which took place in Anchorage following Putin's Aug. 15 summit with U.S. President Donald Trump, which was focused on the war in Ukraine.
Alexei's superior in the Orthodox Church in America, Metropolitan Tikhon, distanced his church from the meeting. Tikhon said the archbishop failed to inform him of his plans to meet Putin, despite “canonical tradition” requiring a bishop to do nothing without informing his metropolitan.
Tikhon said the meeting doesn't represent the OCA's position, which he said has been to “clearly and repeatedly condemn the aggression against Ukraine.”
Critics said the meeting, with its exchange of smiles and Orthodox icons, conferred legitimacy on Putin. The Russian president faces an arrest warrant issued in 2023 from the International Criminal Court, accusing him of war crimes in the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Leaders of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA, a separate jurisdiction, called it "a betrayal of the Gospel of Christ and scandalous to the faithful.”
The OCA is descended from the Russian Orthodox Church, whose missionaries brought the faith to Alaska when it was a czarist territory. The OCA became self-governing in 1970 but retains ties to Russia, and Alexei told Putin about his and his priests' regular visits there. Putin has drawn on the strong support of the Russian Orthodox Church in seeking to justify the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Alexei initially defended his meeting with Putin, emphasizing the religious elements of the exchange and saying it wasn't political. But as criticism mounted in the days afterward, he posted another statement. It expressed “my sincere apology to those who have experienced pain, suffering, or confusion because of my actions in recent days. I am deeply sorry for the scandal that I have caused.”
The statement doesn't include any specific regrets about the meeting itself, focusing on its impact.
He said he greeted Putin in “a peaceful spirit of hospitality,” following three days of prayer at parishes across Alaska for the summit between Russia and the U.S. to bring peace.
“Since then, I have heard from many who viewed that moment as a missed opportunity for a rebuke or demand for peace amid ongoing conflict and suffering,” Alexei wrote.
The Rev. Cyril Hovorun, an Orthodox priest, Ukraine native and outspoken critic of the Russian Orthodox Church's support for the war, said Alexei's statement “was not exactly an apology, because no regret for the meeting as such was expressed. There was only regret for the outcry it caused.” Hovorun is a professor of ecclesiology, international relations and ecumenism at University College Stockholm.
Tikhon's and Alexei's statements were posted on the OCA's website.
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Russia's President Vladimir Putin, left, shakes hands with Alexei (John Trader), Archbishop of the Orthodox Church in America Diocese of Alaska after laying flowers to the graves of Soviet soldiers who died during World War II at Fort Richardson National Cemetery, Alaska, Friday, Aug. 15, 2025, after meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump. (Sergei Bobylev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
Russia's President Vladimir Putin, right, and Alexei (John Trader), Archbishop of the Orthodox Church in America Diocese of Alaska talk after laying flowers to the graves of Soviet soldiers who died during World War II at Fort Richardson National Cemetery, Alaska, Friday, Aug. 15, 2025, after meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump. (Gavriil Grigorov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge Thursday cleared the way for a New York offshore wind project to resume construction, a victory for the developer who said a Trump administration order to pause it would likely kill the project in a matter of days.
District Judge Carl J. Nichols, an appointee of President Donald Trump, ruled construction on the Empire Wind project could go forward while he considers the merits of the government’s order to suspend the project. He faulted the government for not responding to key points in Empire Wind’s court filings, including the contention that the administration violated proper procedure.
Norwegian company Equinor owns Empire Wind. Spokesperson David Schoetz said they welcome the court's decision and will continue to work in collaboration with authorities. It’s the second developer to prevail in court against the administration this week.
The Trump administration froze five big offshore wind projects on the East Coast days before Christmas, citing national security concerns. Trump has targeted offshore wind from his first days back in the White House, most recently calling wind farms “losers” that lose money, destroy the landscape and kill birds.
Developers and states sued seeking to block the order. Large, ocean-based wind farms are the linchpin of plans to shift to renewable energy in East Coast states that have limited land for onshore wind turbines or solar arrays.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul applauded the court decision, telling reporters the projects had been “stopped under the bogus pretense of national security.”
“When I heard this I said one thing: I’m the governor of New York, if there is a national security threat off the coast of New York, you need to tell me what it is. I want a briefing right now. Well, lo and behold, they had no answer,” she said.
On Monday, a judge ruled that the Danish energy company Orsted could resume its project to serve Rhode Island and Connecticut. Senior Judge Royce Lamberth said the government did not sufficiently explain the need for a complete stop to construction. That wind farm, called Revolution Wind, is nearly complete. It’s expected to meet roughly 20% of the electricity needs in Rhode Island, the smallest state, and about 5% of Connecticut’s electricity needs.
Orsted is also suing over the pause of its Sunrise Wind project for New York, with a hearing still to be set. Dominion Energy Virginia, which is developing Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind, plans to ask a judge Friday to block the administration’s order so it can resume construction, too.
Trump has also dismissed offshore wind developments as ugly, but the Empire project is about 14 miles (22.5 kilometers) offshore and the Sunrise project is about 30 miles (48 kilometers) offshore.
The fifth paused project is Vineyard Wind, under construction in Massachusetts. Vineyard Wind LLC, a joint venture between Avangrid and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, joined the rest of the developers in challenging the administration on Thursday. They filed a complaint in District Court in Boston.
In contrast to the halted action in the U.S., the global offshore wind market is growing, with China leading the world in new installations. Nearly all of the new electricity added to the grid in 2024 was renewable. The British government said Wednesday it secured a record 8.4 gigawatts of offshore wind in Europe’s largest offshore wind auction, enough clean electricity to power more than 12 million homes.
Robin Shaffer, president of Protect Our Coast New Jersey, said the Trump administration was right to stop construction on national security grounds. He urged officials to immediately appeal the adverse rulings and seek to halt all work pending appellate review. Opponents of offshore wind projects are particularly vocal and well-organized in New Jersey.
Empire Wind is 60% complete and designed to power more than 500,000 homes. Equinor said the project was in jeopardy due to the limited availability of specialized vessels, as well as heavy financial losses.
During a hearing Wednesday, Judge Nichols said the government’s main security concern seemed to be over operation of the wind turbines, not construction, although the government pushed back on that contention.
In presenting the government’s case, Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward, Jr. was skeptical of the perfect storm of horrible events that Empire Wind said would derail their entire project if construction didn’t resume. He disagreed with the contention that the government’s main concern was over operation.
“I don’t see how you can make this distinction,” Woodward said. He likened it to a nuclear project being built that presented a national security risk. The government would oppose it being built, and it turning on.
Molly Morris, Equinor’s senior vice president overseeing Empire Wind, said in an interview that the company wants to build this project and deliver a major, essential new source of power for New York.
McDermott reported from Providence, Rhode Island. Associated Press writer Anthony Izaguirre contributed to this report from Albany, New York.
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FILE - Wind turbines operate at Vineyard Wind 1 offshore wind farm off the coast of Massachusetts, July 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)
FILE - Wind turbine bases, generators and blades sit along with support ships at The Portsmouth Marine terminal that is the staging area for Dominion Energy Virginia, which is developing Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind, Dec. 22, 2025, in Portsmouth, Va. (AP Photo/Steve Helber, File)
FILE - A sign for the company Equinor is displayed on Oct. 28, 2020, in Fornebu, Norway. (Håkon Mosvold Larsen/NTB Scanpix via AP, File)
Blades and turbine bases for offshore wind sit at a staging area at New London State Pier, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in New London, Conn. (AP Photo/Matt O'Brien)
