Patriarch Bartholomew, and Constantinople in general, has been under extreme pressure from Turkey for a long time, which has been turning up the heat: Turkey basically wants Christians gone. So it's natural for Constantinople to seek Western allies; alas, it appears that the protectors it's sought out right now are demanding their pound of flesh. The Patriarch has the honor of being "first among equals" among the Orthodox hierarchs, but doesn't actually have authority or powers not possessed by other local churches. HOWEVER, Constantinople has started to claim such authority over time, to the consternation of the other jurisdictions. With the unilateral appointment of deposed clerics to head a new autocephalous church on another jurisdiction's historical territory, the Patriarch has apparently declared himself "Pope of the East," with the authority to create and dissolve local jurisdictions around the world. With that we lurch squarely towards Great Schism territory, so it's a very big deal for the Orthodox world. Western powers playing Cold War games don't care about any of this, of course; they're just interested in who "gets" Ukraine so they can keep score.
Thank you. That’s a very good summation and makes a lot of sense.